


Schooldays

by Sandycastle



Series: Child of the Heart [2]
Category: Bonanza/Ponderosa
Genre: Discipline and comfort, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-09-16
Updated: 2017-09-16
Packaged: 2018-12-30 14:06:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 69,816
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12110364
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sandycastle/pseuds/Sandycastle
Summary: Sparky goes to school for the first time and gets upset and follows his Papa and brother Adam ending up joining the cattle drive, then returning to school and over the holidays, Halloween, Thanksgiving and up to Christmas ends up becoming a hero.





	Schooldays

Disclaimer: This story is written for all to enjoy and not for profit. I do own certain characters in this story. Sparky/Nicholas is my own creation and I protect him. I thank David Dortort for the creation of his Cartwright characters as well as others from Bonanza and the Ponderosa series. Although this story is mostly A Bonanza story you will notice that I have also use some characters from Ponderosa. I have also created some other characters and places to suit the story. The San Francisco City Directory 1852 was also used to create some of the places and people mentioned in this story. This story contains spanking. If you don’t approve of this this story may not be for you. 

Rating PG

Schooldays

Written by Sandy Castle 

 

Chapter 1

 

Little Joe was frustrated. It was only three days until school started and Sparky wasn’t budging. 

“Little Joe I don’t want to go!” Two big tears coursed down his little brother’s face.

“Sparky, it isn’t as bad as I’ve made you think. It’s really interesting to learn all the things you need to know.”

The little boy shook his head no, tears still streaking down his sad little face.

The older boy sighed. He took the handkerchief out of his pocket and wiped his little brother’s eyes. Then he held it to Sparky’s nose. “Blow.” He commanded and the child did as he was asked. 

“Nicky, you don’t have a choice. Pa wants you to attend school and so you will go. I don’t want to go either. I’d rather go on the cattle drive, but Pa said no and so it’s no. I still have to go to school.”

“I’m scared! The other kids will laugh at me and make fun of me. I’ll get into trouble and Papa will be mad.”

Little Joe pulled the youngster into his lap. “Look Nicky, don’t worry about that now. You haven’t even met the other new little kids who will be starting school right along with you.”

“Sally Robbins will think I’m a baby because she has been in school longer than me.”

“She’s also older than you. She didn’t start school until last year and she was six then.”

“I still don’t want to go!”

“I know, but you already know how to read and to add and subtract a little. You know a lot of things the other kids don’t know yet. You’ll be ahead of most of them”

Sparky thought about this for a bit. Then he sighed. “All right Little Joe, I’ll go.”

The other boy breathed a sigh of relief. They’d see on the first day of school though. 

<<<<>>>>

Benjamin Cartwright brought his little boy to the school the next day. He wanted Sparky to see the inside of the schoolhouse and to meet Miss Jones for himself. Ben had already met with the teacher letting her know that Nicky was scared of school and of her in particular. He had gone over with her his wishes regarding her punishing his son in school. He had outlined with Miss Jones that she was not to spank Sparky in any way, allowing him to do the physical punishment. She was not to smack his hand with a ruler either. She could however stand him in a corner, or give him sentences to write. Ben had also informed her that he would only be sending the child for half days to begin with to see how he tolerated the school situation. The woman agreed with this plan.

<<<<>>>>

Sparky rode dejectedly on Blaze by Ben’s side. He placed his fingers in his mouth and began to chew on them as they approached the school.

“Sparky, son, take your fingers out of your mouth.”

The child did as he was asked and looked worriedly at his father. “Papa, why do I have to go to school? Why can’t I just stay home?”

“Because school is a place of learning and all your brothers went to school and learned what they needed to know. Little Joe is still learning.”

Sparky sighed and when they arrived Ben took the little mite off his pony and holding his hand led him into the empty schoolroom. Miss Jones was there and greeted the man and the little boy.

“Hello Mr. Cartwright. This must be Nicky.”

Ben smiled. “Yes, it is.” He gently pushed the boy in front of him. The child had his fingers in his mouth again. The man bent down and whispered, “take your fingers out of your mouth and say hello” Sparky did as he was instructed and said softly. “Hello Miss Jones.”

“Well, I understand you’ll be starting school for half days Nicky.”

“Yes Ma’am”

“Would you like to see where you will be sitting?”

“Yes Ma’am.”

Miss Jones took Sparky by the hand and showed him to a desk right in front of her own. “This is where you’ll be seated Nicky. Your desk mate will be another boy who is also starting school and is six years old. His name is Patrick Kelly.”

“Does he have a brother Vincent?”

“Why, yes he does.”

“Vincent and I had a fight at church about a year ago.”

“You do know Nicky fighting isn’t allowed in school?”

“Yes Ma’am. When I went to the Silver Eagle mine school Miss Travis gave me two swats with the paddle for fighting in school.”

The teacher raised an eyebrow at Ben, but he just looked right back not giving an inch on the subject of physical discipline.

“I see, I’m glad you know some of the rules already.”

“Yes, Miss Jones.”

Nicky your Papa tells me you can read.”

“Yes Ma’am.”

“Would you mind reading something out loud for me?”

“No Miss Jones.”

The woman gave Sparky a primer and when she realized how easily he read through it gave him a little harder reader. The little boy also breezed through the page she asked him to read. She kept giving him different books until the youngster finally came upon one he had some difficulty reading, but got through the page sounding out the words, pronouncing them correctly.

“Very good Nicky. You read very well.”

“Thank you, Miss Jones. Adam taught me.”

“It shows.”

Then she wrote a sentence on a slate and handed it to Sparky with the pencil. “I want you to write this sentence for me Nicky.”

The child looked up at Miss Jones panic and worry on his little face. “Am I being punished? I didn’t do anything wrong did I!?”

“No, of course you aren’t being punished Nicky. I just want to see how well you write.”

“Oh.”

Ben hid a grin. He knew Adam had made his son write sentences when he had been stubborn or misbehaved while teaching him at home. 

Sparky concentrated sticking the tip of his tongue out as he took the pencil in his left hand and wrote the sentence on the slate. 

Miss Jones frowned disapprovingly at the child writing left handed, but then seeing Ben looking at her, schooled her features. They had already gone around on this issue with Little Joe and the teacher knew she wouldn’t win with this little Cartwright either. Once Nicky had copied the sentence the woman looked at his work and was pleased with the legibility of the child’s penmanship. 

“Very Good Nicky. You write very well.”

“Adam taught me.”

“Well, he did a very good job. Mr. Cartwright, it seems this child is a very bright little boy. He reads at about a sixth-grade level and his penmanship is as good as a child in third grade.”

“Thank you, Ma’am.”

Miss Jones then erased the sentence she had placed on the slate she had given Nicky. She then put several Arithmetic problems on it and handed it to the child. Can you do these Arithmetic problems for me?

“Yes Ma’am” Sparky concentrated and added the simple problems and subtracted them as well getting them correct. He looked at the double column figures as well as the multiplication and division problems and said, “Miss Jones, I don’t know what these are or how to add these either. He indicated the double column figures for addition, subtraction, then the multiplication and division. “Adam didn’t teach me about these yet.”

“That’s okay Nicky. You’ll learn them along with the other children in your grade. They don’t know how to do them either.”

The littlest Cartwright put his fingers in his mouth again and chewed on them nervously.

Ben turned to the child, “Nicky, please take your fingers out of your mouth.”

The little boy did as he was told. Miss Jones tested him on his colors and he correctly identified them all. When the teacher was through she knew Nicholas, Cartwright was one very bright little boy and would need guidance and direction to keep him out of mischief. 

“Well Mr. Cartwright, it seems that your son is a very bright student. I noticed he puts his fingers in his mouth.”

“It’s something he does when he’s nervous or scared about something. I try to correct him when he does it.”

“I understand. Adam has done a wonderful job of teaching Nicky. I assume he will continue to tutor him as he learns new things?”

“When he is able to Miss Jones. He continues to help Little Joe as well.” He went on, “I want you to know that either myself, Hop Sing or one of the boys will be picking my son up from school at noon each day. Please do not allow him to leave the schoolyard without one of us being with him.”

“Yes, I understand Mr. Cartwright. I will also send a note with him if there were any concerns that day.”

“Miss Jones, Nicky is also prone to tantrums. I again remind you of our talk earlier regarding that. “

“Yes, of course Mr. Cartwright.”

“I also want you to understand that if another child calls my son a baby he’s likely to hit them and a fight may ensue. If this occurs I want to know about it. You may separate him and stand him in a corner until one of us comes for him. I will deal with that behavior at home then.”

“Yes, I’m very clear on everything. I’ll handle him in the way you’ve asked.”

“Thank you, Miss Jones.” Ben then took his son’s hand, ready to leave the schoolhouse.

 

Chapter 2

 

Sparky looked from his father to Miss Jones wondering just what his Papa had meant by “deal with that at home”. That hadn’t sounded very good. 

Ben glanced down at his little son and smiled at the child’s worried frown. He’d find out soon enough because he was going to have a long talk with Sparky this afternoon. 

“We’re going to leave now son, what do you say to Miss Jones?”

“Good-bye Miss Jones.”

“Very good. Ben tousled the youngster’s hair and taking him by the hand left the schoolroom. He picked up the little boy and placing him on his pony asked, “How do you think you’re going to  
do at school?”

“I don’t know Papa. Miss Jones seems okay.”

“You behave and do all the things you’re supposed to do and I’m sure that things will be all right.”

“Yes Papa.”

When Ben and Sparky got home he helped his little son to put up his pony. As Sparky wiped down the legs and lower half of the animal. He asked, “Papa, who will help with Blaze at school?”

“Little Joe will help you because he will be riding to school with you. If your brother isn’t able to go to school a particular day then whoever takes you to school will do it.”

“Okay Papa.”

Once Sparky and his father were finished in the barn they walked together to the house where Hop Sing fed the family lunch. 

Nicky played on his swing for a while, then in the yard and Ben watched the little boy smiling to himself. He was glad he had taken the day to be with his small son. He was going to be gone quite a while on the cattle drive and would miss being able to be with his little tyke. Adam was also going to be going with him. This was worrisome to Ben because the little boy was very attached to his oldest son and having both of them gone the first few weeks of school… well… he was concerned. It would mean that Hoss, Little Joe and Hop Sing would have to deal with the child. Hop Sing would be the one to enforce any physical discipline if warranted and Ben although trusting the man to deal with his son appropriately really didn’t like the idea. 

A little while before dinner Ben called his son to him. “Sparky, come inside. We need to have a little talk.”

The little boy wondered what he had done that his father wanted to have a little talk with him. He couldn’t think of anything he had done to deserve a spanking.

When the child came to him Ben took him by the hand and walked with him to his desk. “Sit down son.”

The youngster climbed up and sat in the chair next to his Papa’s desk.

“Nicky, I want you to know that I expect you to behave at school tomorrow and every day you attend. I want you to pay attention to Miss Jones. I want you to do the work she assigns to you and to treat her with respect. I don’t expect you to have any tantrums at school. If you do you will be spanked for them when you get home do you understand?”

“Yes Papa, no tantrums at school, be respectful to Miss Jones, pay attention and do my work.”

“I also don’t want you starting or getting into any fights. You are to ignore other children calling you names. If you start a fight or end up in one you can count on a spanking.”

“Yes Papa, no fighting or I’ll get spanked.”

“Very good. You are not to try any experiments without me, Adam Hoss, or Hop Sing supervising you. Do you understand?”  
Yes Papa, no experimenting without supervision.”

“Good boy.” Ben then scooped up his child and settled him in his lap where he tickled the little mite until he was all giggles. Then he kissed him on the forehead and with a light swat to his bottom sent him to play.

<<<<>>>>

The next day Little Joe moped around, not really wanting to go to school. 

His father cornered him in his bedroom. “Joseph, you aren’t setting a very good example for your little brother by doing this and if I see any more of it this morning he will be seeing his older brother getting a sound spanking to start the new school year off with.”

The youngster gulped, knowing his father would do exactly as he said. “Yes Sir., I’ll put on a better attitude.”

“See that you do.” Ben administered one sharp swat to his thirteen-year-old’s bottom.

“Ouch! Pa! I’m not twelve anymore you know!” Little Joe rubbed the stinging spot.

“Well, then act like a thirteen-year-old or I’ll continue to treat you like you were six instead!” Ben frowned at his son.

“Yes Sir.” Little Joe sighed, getting ready for school. 

When Ben went into Sparky’s room he helped him to wash and to dress in his good jeans and shirt. “You want to look your best when you go to school Sparky.”

“Why Papa?”

“It teaches you that being neat and clean helps you to interact with other people better. They don’t usually like to have dirty grubby looking people around them.”

“Oh.”

Ben combed his fine blonde hair and his son looked adorable. “Well, let’s get you downstairs and some breakfast into you.”

“Papa, my stomach is shaking inside.”

“Hmm… sounds like you’re a bit nervous. Once you eat something though it will help.”

When they got downstairs, Adam and Hoss smiled at the littlest Cartwright. He was dressed so cute even having his dress riding boots on. Ben had allowed him to wear them, but not his spurs. The little mite looked adorable and Adam commented, “You are looking very nice today Sparky. You are going to try to behave and follow the rules at school, aren’t you?”

“Yes Adam.”

“I’ll be coming to pick you up at lunch time okay?”

Sparky grinned. “Yes Adam! I’d really like that!”

“Good. I’m looking forward to it too. Little Joe will bring you to school each morning okay?”

“Yes Adam.”

Sparky ate very little and Ben pulled him into his lap and fed him a little bit more. He knew from past experience not to force his son to eat too much more or there would be a mess to clean up. 

Hoss saddled Blaze and brought him up to the house and his younger brother got his horse, Cochise ready. Ben plopped his youngest son into the saddle and once Little Joe rode up said to Sparky with a stern look, “Remember young man, you are not to gallop or ride ahead of us.”  
“Yes Papa.”  
Ben had decided to ride with his children to their first day of school and make sure Sparky was settled in and okay before he left the little boy. He knew he was being over protective, but just couldn’t help it. 

The ride to town was uneventful. Little Sparky Rode Blaze as he should and his father as always was proud of the seat the child had watching him ride with a smile. 

As they approached Virginia City School Sparky put his fingers in his mouth chewing on them nervously. Seeing all the children playing in the schoolyard along with the older boys and girls gathered in groups talking frightened him. He was nervous about it all. Ben rode up closer to his child and when they pulled up their horses into the schoolyard He plucked him out of the saddle and whispered, “Take your fingers out of your mouth baby.”

Sparky immediately took them out and his Papa led him by the hand along with some other parents into the schoolroom. 

The youngster nervously looked around as he entered. He saw the desk Miss Jones showed him and there was a little boy sitting there. 

Patrick Kelly had a thatch of red hair, green eyes and lots of freckles. He too looked scared. 

The youngster stopped dead and Ben looked down at his little son. “Come on Nicky, I want you to meet Patrick.”

The little boy began to put his hand in his mouth, but looking up into his father’s smiling face put it down and allowed Ben to lead him to his desk. 

Miss Jones walked over and said, “Nicholas, this is Patrick Kelly. He is your desk mate. Patrick, this is Nicholas Cartwright.”

The two little boys shook hands and sat down at their desk. John Kelly had already left and his son Vincent who had had the fight with Sparky sat a few desks back and eyed the child. ‘If that Nicky Cartwright hits my brother I’m going to bust him one.’ He thought to himself. 

Ben hunkered down and looking his son in the eye said, “Nicky, I’m going to leave now. Little Joe is here and he’ll look out for you. You be good and Adam will be here later to take you home okay?”

“Yes Papa.” Sparky whispered.

Ben tousled his son’s hair and gave him a big smile. He then left the schoolroom and gave Little Joe a look that the boy knew meant that he should watch out for his little brother.

 

Chapter 3

 

Sparky fidgeted in his seat. He jumped when Miss Jones standing in front of his desk addressed the schoolroom. “Children, quiet down! We will have each of the new students introduce themselves.”

The little boy began to feel a bit sick to his stomach. When the teacher looked directly at him and said, “You can go first.”  
Sparky froze. He turned pale and began to shake inside. Miss Jones seeing the child’s response smiled at him and took him by the hand. “Come up here and turn to face the children.”

The youngster looked over the children in front of him. He saw Little Joe who grinned at him and then caught the look Vincent Kelly gave him. He got real nervous then, but when he looked over at his brother again, he gained courage and spoke up in a clear voice, “My name is Nicholas Cartwright. My Papa says I can be called Nicky in school. I turned six -years old in June. My brother is Little Joe Cartwright.”

“Very good Nicky. You may take your seat.”

Sparky’s face had regained its color and he sat down with relief. It was Patrick’s turn then and each of the other children introduced themselves. 

Miss Jones then gave the older children lessons to do and grouped her four new six-year olds, Nicky, Patrick, Nancy Jennings and Kristy Dennison together and began their lessons. Nicky fidgeted. He was bored already. Miss Jones was going over the alphabet with the other children and Sparky already knew it frontward and backward. He sighed and began to draw on his slate. “Nicholas!”  
The little boy looked up startled. “This is not art time. This is learning time!” The teacher scolded sharply.

“Miss Jones, I know the alphabet!”

“That may be so young man. You sit there quietly then and wait until I’m through with the other children.”

“Yes Ma’am” Sparky looked down at his slate and erased what he had drawn embarrassed at her scolding him. 

Little Joe glanced up from his reading assignment in his history book when he heard Miss Jones scolding Sparky. He noticed the child’s face turn red and him looking down. He knew that all this inactivity wasn’t going to be good for his little brother. 

The teacher continued working with the other children and finally Sparky asked, “Miss Jones, may I go to the outhouse?”

The woman looked up at the little boy. “Yes Nicky, but you must come right back.”

“Yes Ma’am.”

The youngster walked out of the schoolhouse and on his way to the outhouse saw a garter snake. He picked it up and played with it for a while liking the way it curled around his arm. He sat on the ground and became fascinated by the snake and forgot about going to the outhouse or back into the schoolhouse.

Miss Jones realized that her young charge had been gone quite a while. Excusing herself from the other children she went outside in search of Nicky.

“Nicholas Cartwright!” The teacher strode over to the little boy and taking him by the arm hauled him to his feet. He dropped the snake and Miss Jones screamed at the sight of it. Then she picked up Sparky and bringing him back into the schoolhouse walked over to the corner and standing him on his feet stood him in it. 

“You will stand in the corner now young man. You were supposed to go to the outhouse, not sit outside and play with a snake!” She had been tempted to land a hard swat on his backside, but refrained remembering her instructions.  
Nicky, totally embarrassed at being carried back into the schoolroom by the teacher, having been stood in the corner and then being scolded in front of the whole school was red faced and had tears coursing down his face. He dashed them away with the back of his hand, wiping them on his jeans. 

The little boy stood there until recess. Miss Jones then made him sit at his desk and write twenty-five times “I will not play when I go to the outhouse.”

Sparky was mad now. He couldn’t go out for recess and his teacher was making him write sentences lots of times. Miss Jones had numbered one through ten on Nicky’s slate. When he finished those ten she numbered eleven through twenty and then erased those and numbered twenty-one through twenty-five. Sparky’s hand was hurting by the time he was through and the other children had come back into the schoolroom. Little Joe came to his little brother and hunkered down next to him for a moment. “Are you okay Sparky?”

“Little Joe, my hand hurts.”

“Sweet Pea, you’ve got to behave or you will get these punishments.”

“Yes, Little Joe” Sparky said dejectedly.

The older boy gave him a quick hug and said, “Just try to behave for the rest of the morning okay?”

“Okay.”

Miss Jones then gave the little ones an assignment to copy their alphabet letters on their slate. Sparky was really bored now. He knew how to do this and when he completed his assignment began to tap his pencil and fidget in his seat.

“Nicholas, sit still and stop fidgeting!”

“Yes Ma’am.” The little boy sighed. He began to swing his feet and Patrick said, “Nicky, stop that! You’re kicking me!”

“No, I’m not!”

“Yes, you are!”

Miss Jones strode over to the two little boys. She hauled Sparky up by the arm and marched him back to the corner. She then Hauled up Patrick and gave him a sharp swat to his backside. “Ow! How come you didn’t swat Nicky? He started it!”  
“I don’t have to explain myself to you little boy. You just stop this arguing or I’ll stand you in the other corner!”

Patrick sat down on his now stinging bottom and sulked. Sparky stood in the corner and tried not to fidget. 

Little Joe shook his head. His little brother was not faring well on his first day of school. Miss Jones wasn’t giving Sparky enough to do and without any play time, well… if Nicky didn’t end up having a tantrum before Adam came for him he would be surprised. 

<<<<>>>>

Adam headed to the Virginia City School to pick up Sparky. He wondered how the little mite’s first half day of school had gone. When he rode up he noticed the children coming out of the schoolhouse. When he didn’t see his little brother, his heart pounded. Little Joe saw his big brother and ran up to him.

“What’s going on Little Joe?”

Sparky is in there standing in the corner. Adam, Miss Jones isn’t giving him anything to do. The other children don’t know as much as he does and so she is just making him sit there. He went out to the outhouse and I guess he saw a snake and played with it. Miss Jones caught him, scolded him and stood him in the corner. She kept him in and made him write sentences during recess. Then he had an argument with his desk mate about kicking him and Miss Jones put him back in the corner and gave Patrick a swat. He’s not very happy and I’m sure in a lousy mood.”

“Okay Little Joe, I’ll take care of him.”

<<<<>>>>

Miss Jones sat at her desk finishing writing the note she was sending home with Nicholas Cartwright. Her eyes lit up like lanterns when she saw Adam stride through the door. She attempted to flirt with him, but Nicky turning from the corner, hearing the boot steps of his older brother flung himself at him, almost knocking the young man over. The little boy had tears streaming down his face.

“Adam! Adam! I want to go home!”

The oldest Cartwright boy picked up the crying child and held him close, rubbing his back.

“You’re spoiling him Adam, I haven’t given him permission to come out of the corner yet!”

“I’m sorry Miss Jones.” The young man walked over to the corner and stood his little brother there. He whispered, “It’ll be only for a minute Sweet Pea, Okay?”

With Adam there Sparky just nodded and stood in the corner. 

The oldest Cartwright boy went back to the teacher.

She handed him a note and frowned. “Adam, your brother was very naughty today. He was inattentive, drawing on his slate when we were supposed to be going over the alphabet. He went outside to use the outhouse and I found him sitting on the ground playing with a garter snake. Then he was swinging his legs at his desk and had an argument with Patrick Kelly. I stood him in the corner until recess, made him stay in, had him write a sentence twenty-five times and then stood him in the corner again!”

A frown crossed the young man’s face and he said, “I see Miss Jones. I’ll be sure to give your note to my father and we will deal with this at home.”

The teacher turned then. “Nicholas, you may come out of the corner now.”

Sparky came out of the corner and Miss Jones said, “Stand in front of me young man.”

The youngster did as he was told. 

“What do you have to say for yourself?”

“I’m sorry Miss Jones, I’ll try to behave better tomorrow.”

“Very good, you have to try harder than this Nicholas.”

“Yes, Miss Jones.”

“You may leave with your brother now.”

“Yes Ma’am.” The little boy turned then and ran to Adam who picked him up and carried him out of the schoolhouse. He hugged him tight and tried to provide what comfort he could to the little mite. 

 

Chapter 4

 

Little Joe seeing Adam and Sparky ran up to them along with Mitch Devlin and Seth Pruitt. “Hey Sparky, you okay?”

“Yes, now that I’m with Adam!”

The younger Cartwright brother walked up to the older boy and gave his little brother a hug while he was holding him. “Maybe tomorrow will be better Sweet Pea.”

“Maybe” Sparky said a bit doubtfully a tear escaping one of his large grey eyes. 

The oldest brother put Nicky down then. “I’m going to saddle Blaze for you Sparky. You stay with Little Joe and I’ll be right back okay?”

“Yes Adam.”

<<<<>>>>

Adam was furious. Miss Jones had not paid attention to anything she had been told. She knew Sparky was bright and that he couldn’t tolerate inactivity and no play time. He was surprised his baby brother hadn’t had a major tantrum. Knowing the kid, he’d probably save that for when he got home. Once he got the pony saddled he boosted Sparky up and they took off for home.

The youngster was unusually quiet the whole way home. He had chewed on his fingers a couple of times, but the oldest Cartwright boy had just reminded him to take his fingers out of his mouth. 

When they arrived Hop Sing had soup and sandwiches ready for them. The little boy ate some, but Adam saw the worried look on his face and putting him in his lap helped him finish his soup and eat a bit more of his sandwich. 

When they were through Sparky looked at Adam. “Adam, should I go to my room and wait for Papa to come?” He asked. 

The eldest Cartwright boy studied the little one. He knew what the note he had in his pocket said and he also knew from what little Joe had told him the problems in school today hadn’t been all of the little one’s doing. “No, I think you may play in the great room until Pa comes home.”

“Really Adam?”

“Uh huh. I have the feeling you need a bit of play time to relax.”

The littlest Cartwright gave his big brother a huge hug and grinned at him. Then he went to his toy box and began to pull out things to play with. 

Adam knew he had done the right thing. Any more inactivity and there would have been a very cranky very upset child to deal with. 

After a while the child got tired and crawling into his Papa’s chair fell asleep.

<<<<>>>>

When Ben and Hoss came in from cutting the herd, getting ready for the cattle drive the elder Cartwright saw his oldest son step out of the barn. He had been working on the tack preparing it by cleaning and repairing what would be needed for the horses on the drive. 

“Hi Adam, how did things go for our little one at school today?”

“Not so good Pa. The best thing was that he didn’t have any tantrums, or get into any fights.”

Ben quirked an eyebrow at his boy. “What happened?”

“Well, it’s my opinion that Miss Jones wasn’t doing with Sparky as we requested and he got bored and that’s why he got into the trouble he did. She sent a note home.”

The older man sighed. He knew it would be difficult, but a note already? His son handed him the note and said, “Pa, before you read that I want you to know that Little Joe told me Miss Jones had Sparky with the other children who had not been to school yet and was going over the alphabet which the little mite knows frontward and backward. She scolded him for drawing on his slate during this activity. Then he asked to go to the outhouse and ended up finding a garter snake outside and sat there playing with it until Miss Jones came out and hauled him back inside. Then she made him stand in the corner until recess and during recess she made him write sentences. She made him write twenty-five times “I will not play when I go to the outhouse.”, so he didn’t get a break. When the children reassembled she was having them write their letters on their slates. Sparky was done in a short time and got bored and was swinging his legs, you know, like he does in church sometimes. His desk mate accused him of kicking him and they began to argue. Miss Jones stood Sparky in the corner and gave the other little boy, Patrick a swat with her hand on his bottom. When I came into the schoolroom I found him standing in the corner.”

“Hmm… I see… I’ll have to talk to Sparky about a couple of these things, like playing with the snake and arguing with his desk mate. I’m not going to punish him for any of this, it sounds like Miss Jones is partially at fault for what’s happened today.”

“I let him stay downstairs after lunch to play as he hadn’t had any play time and I think that’s important for him. He did ask if he should stay in his room until you came home.”

Ben smiled at this. The littlest Cartwright did know he was in trouble for getting a note home from school. 

“Pa, if you want I’ll put up Buck for you so you can go in and talk to him.”

“Thank you, Adam. I appreciate that.”

<<<<>>>>

When Adam took Buck into the barn he filled Hoss in on what had happened to the little one at school that day. 

“Poor tyke. Miss Jones sure can be hard on a kid, can’t she?”

“Yes, but I have a feeling she will be hearing from Pa again about all this. He wants school to be a successful experience for Sparky and he’s not going to tolerate anything from Miss Jones.”

“You are so right brother. Pa really loves that little mite and he’s as bad as a she bear protecting one of her cubs.”

Adam grinned at Hoss’s description as it fit their father’s relationship with the littlest Cartwright to a tee. 

<<<<>>>>

When Ben came in and saw the little mite asleep in his chair he smiled and picking him up brought the slumbering child to his room and tucked him in. He would talk to the boy after supper. He was all tuckered out from his emotional day. 

<<<<>>>>

When Little Joe rode up into the yard he saw his brothers and called, “Adam, Hoss!”

The two young men turned to look at their younger brother coming in.

“Hi there Little Joe! How’d your day go?”

“Okay for a first day. I didn’t get any notes home. I figured Sparky getting one home was enough for Pa today.”

The older brothers laughed at that.

“Adam, Miss Jones was pretty much ignoring Sparky. He’s smarter than those other kids his age and I could tell he was getting bored real quick.”

“From what you told me this morning Little Joe I surmised that.”

“Is the little mite in trouble with Pa?”

“I don’t think so. I explained things to him. He did want to talk to him however about playing with the snake when he went to the outhouse and arguing with his desk mate.”

Little Joe grinned. “Yeah, you shoulda heard her scream!”

Both boys laughed along with their younger brother. 

Ben came out about then. He strode over to his sons. “I didn’t have that talk with Sparky yet. When I walked in he was sound asleep in my chair. I put him to bed. I’ll talk to him after supper.”

Little Joe brought Cochise to the barn and Ben and the older boys, having finished their chores, went back into the house. 

<<<<>>>>

Sparky woke, stretched and yawned. He noticed he was in his bed and wondered how he had gotten there. He had been playing downstairs and then sat in his father’s chair and that was the last thing he remembered. Hearing voices from downstairs he crawled out of bed and put on his shoes. He tied them, proud he could do that now and went to see if his Papa and brothers were home.

Ben turned hearing little footsteps on the stairs. “Hi there son, looks like you woke up.”

“Yes Papa. I fell asleep.”

“You must have had a hard day.”

Sparky looked at Ben with some trepidation. The man seeing this walked over and picking up the little tyke off the stairs swung him around and gave him a big hug and a smile. 

The little boy relaxed then and his father patted his bottom and plopped him into the chair by his desk. His two older brothers headed upstairs to give them some privacy. 

“Sparky, Adam gave me a note Miss Jones sent home.”

The youngster ducked his head in embarrassment. “Yes Papa. Are you mad?”

“Well… let’s just say I’m not very pleased.”

“Oh.”

“Nicky, I want you to tell me what happened in school this morning.”

Sparky looked up quickly and seeing encouragement and understanding in his Papa’s eyes slowly began telling him about the mishaps that had happened at school. 

The man remained quiet allowing the youngster to tell everything in his own way. When his child was through he knew Adam had been right. 

“Nicky, I understand that there were things Miss Jones should have done to help you, but that didn’t’ happen. I do want to address with you however going out to the outhouse when you didn’t really have to go and then staying outside playing. That is something I don’t want to hear of you doing again. Being this is the first time you have done this at school I’m not going to spank you for it, but if I hear of you doing that again you will be getting that spanking do you understand?”

“Yes Papa.”

“I also don’t want to hear of you arguing with your desk mate or any of the other children at school. I will punish you for that as well in the future. Arguing can lead to fighting and you know what I promised you for fighting.”

“Yes Papa.”

“It also sounds like Miss Jones did punish you for everything you did today by standing you in the corner, making you write sentences as well as not allowing you to go out for recess.”

“Yes Papa.”

“Again, I’m not going to spank you for that either, but if this behavior continues then you can count on that punishment is that clear?”

“Yes Papa.”

Ben signed the note and handed it to Sparky. “You keep this safe and give it to Miss Jones tomorrow. I will be going to school with you again in the morning as I want to speak to her. Don’t lose that note okay?”

“Okay Papa.”

Ben then scooped the little mite into his lap and tickled him until he begged for his Papa to stop. Then he gave a few love pats to his bottom and told him to get washed up for supper. 

 

Chapter 5

 

Sparky ate pretty well at supper, not being so nervous, having had some play time and a nap. Ben was glad he hadn’t waited until after supper to talk to the little mite about his note from Miss Jones and decided to make it a point to do that whenever it was possible. He didn’t want the little one to be worried and not eat because of that. Even if he deserved punishment he decided that meting it out as soon as he could before supper would probably be a better way of handling things with the boy. 

The next morning Sparky wasn’t quite as nervous as he had been that first day. He ate again pretty well and his Papa praised him for this. 

Little Joe was disappointed that Pa was going to ride with them again to school. He wanted to ride fast and knew Sparky would like to do that too and whatever their father didn’t know wouldn’t hurt their backsides.

When they arrived at school Ben took Sparky off his pony and sent him to play with the other children. 

He went up to Sally Robins.  
“Hi Sally!”

“Hi Nicky! How are you?”

“I’m fine.”

“Are you going to get in trouble today?”

“I hope not. Papa wasn’t very happy about me getting into trouble yesterday.”

“Did he punish you?”

“No. He scolded me and warned me that if I did some of the things I did yesterday I would be punished then.”

The children sat and talked for a while.

<<<<>>>>

Ben knocked and then entered the schoolroom. “Miss Jones, I would like a private word with you.”

Abigail Jones looked up to see Benjamin Cartwright standing in her schoolroom.

“Yes Mr. Cartwright. What would you like to discuss?”

“Miss Jones, when I brought my son Nicky here to meet you, you evaluated his learning and placed him at a sixth-grade reading level. Can you tell me why you made him go over the alphabet and write his letters when he is very good at both these things?”

“Well… I didn’t want him to feel different from the other children.”

“Well, Miss Jones, he *is* different from the other children. He was bored and I warned you if he gets bored he gets into mischief. I am very sure that is why he ended up going outside and playing with a snake! It was more interesting than what he was doing in the schoolroom!”

Miss Jones blushed. “I’m sorry Mr. Cartwright.”

“Miss Jones, I want my child to come home and be able to tell me something new he has learned each day or it will be your job, or I will take him out of your school and send him somewhere where they will teach him the things he needs to learn!”

“I’ll see to it that Nicky learns one new thing each day. Mr. Cartwright.”

“Very good. The child won’t get into as much mischief if he’s kept busy with something that interests him. I would like to be able to send him to school for a full day, but won’t be able to do that unless I’m very certain he will be kept interested and busy enough to stay out of trouble.”

“I understand that is our goal. I’ll try to work it out Mr. Cartwright.”

“See that you do Miss Jones! Good day!”

Ben turned on his heel and left the teacher open mouthed standing in the schoolroom.

Sparky and Sally were still chatting when the man came up to his son. “Nicky, I’m leaving now. Adam will come for you at lunch again okay?”

“Yes Papa.”  
The rancher bent down, picked up his son, gave him a squeeze and said, “You behave and don’t get into any mischief, do you understand?”

“Yes Papa.”

“Don’t forget to give Miss Jones your note.”

“I won’t.”

Ben gave the little mite a kiss on the forehead, squeezed him one more time and with a few pats to his behind set him down.  
“I think Miss Jones will be calling the children in soon son. Have a good morning.”

“I will Papa.”

Just then Miss Jones rang the school bell and Sparky took off to go inside.

Nicky came in and took his seat. He glanced at Patrick and smiled at him. 

The other boy glared back at him and Sparky looked at his desk mate confused. He didn’t know why he was acting this way toward him. 

Miss Jones called the school to order. Then she set each of the grades to working on their assignments. 

Sparky put up his hand and when Miss Jones called on him he asked, “Miss Jones, do you want my note? My Papa signed it.”

“Yes Nicholas. I’ll take that.”

After taking the note from the youngster she handed him a sixth-grade history textbook. “Nicky, I want you to read Chapter one and then write out the answers to the questions at the end on your slate.”

The little boy looked up at her in surprise. Miss Jones was going to let him read a history book and do lessons like his older brother? He took the book and reading it became immersed in what he was learning. 

Miss Jones glanced up from time to time from her other students to see the youngster with his blonde head lowered and turning the pages of the book carefully. She knew he was reading and seemed to be getting through the book okay. When Sparky finished the chapter, he began to write the answers on his slate as Miss Jones instructed. By the time he completed this his hand was hurting from the unaccustomed writing, but he had finished the  
assignment. 

Miss Jones went over and picking up his slate read the responses to the questions and was quite please. The child had truly been quiet and had done his work without any fidgeting or any of the other behavior he had exhibited the day before. She let him out for recess and he was one happy little boy.

After recess Miss Jones called the children back into the schoolroom. She set the other children to doing other learning tasks and sat at her desk and read a children’s story to the youngest children. Sparky listened and soon Adam was there to take him home. 

“Hi there little one, how did things go today?”

“Good Adam! I got to read about the Mayflower and the pilgrims. Did you know that the Indians showed them how to plant corn? Did you know there were Indians at the first Thanksgiving just like we had Chief Winnemucca and Willow Painter and his family at our house when they brought me home? That was like a real Thanksgiving!”

The older boy smiled at his little brother. This was the most animation he had seen in the child in a long time if ever. The youngster chattered on about what he had read in his history book all the way home. Once they arrived the older boy took him down off Blaze and said, “Baby, go on into the house and let Hop Sing know we’re home.”

“Okay Adam!”  
Sparky ran into the house and almost bowled over the little Chinese man.

“Oh! Hop Sing! I’m sorry! Adam said to tell you we were home and that he’d be in in a minute for lunch. Hop Sing! Do you know that when the Paiutes were here last Thanksgiving that it was just like the first Thanksgiving with the pilgrims?”

The little man shook his head and went into his kitchen to bring out the stew he had made for their lunch and listened to the child’s animated chatter. Once Adam joined Sparky Hop Sing retreated into his kitchen pleased to see the happiness in the youngster. 

When Ben returned home that night all the Cartwrights had to listen again to Sparky’s chatter about the Indians, Thanksgiving and the Pilgrims. 

Little Joe rolled his eyes at one point and received a stern look from his father. He decided he’d better not do that again. 

Ben was glad to see that Miss Jones had taken his little talk to heart and that his child was learning something, not being bored and getting into any trouble in school as a result of it. 

The next few days were the same. Miss Jones giving Sparky reading assignments with questions to answer about what he read and him coming home and talking non-stop about what he had read. 

“Pa?”

“Yes Adam?”  
“Have you noticed that Miss Jones has not done anything more with Sparky than to give him reading assignments?”

“Hmm… now that you say that, you’re right. I haven’t heard him talk about doing any arithmetic or science projects or Geography, things like that.”

“I think that’s because she knows Sparky likes to read and this keeps him quiet. She hasn’t challenged him with anything else.”

Ben sighed. Well, he’d have to speak to her about this. They were leaving in the morning to drive the cattle to market. He’d make a trip to Miss Jones’s home after supper and talk to her about his concerns.

<<<<>>>>

Abigail Jones was surprised to hear a knock at her front door as she was washing up her dishes from the supper she had prepared for herself. She whisked off her apron and patted her hair. Maybe it would be Adam Cartwright coming to call on her.

She opened the door prepared with what she believed to be a flirtatious look. When she saw it was a Cartwright, but not the one she had hoped for her face fell.

“Oh, it’s you Mr. Cartwright.”

“Were you expecting some one tonight? I don’t want to intrude.”

“No, of course not. I wasn’t expecting anyone.”

“Would you be so kind as to step outside Miss Jones, I’d like to have a word with you.”  
Benjamin Cartwright knew better than to step inside a single woman’s house. It could be grounds for the marriage noose and he was planning to stay well away from that. 

Abigail stepped onto her porch and she invited Ben to sit down.  
“Please sit-down Mr. Cartwright. How may I help you?”

“Well Miss Jones I’d like to discuss my son Nicholas with you again.”

“Isn’t he learning something new each day as you requested?”

“Yes, of course, but Miss Jones, I’d like him to be learning other things as well as what he reads. Reading is no challenge to the boy. It comes easy to him and he’s very good at it. I’d like to see him exposed to some other subjects such as Arithmetic, Science, Geography, things like that.”

“Oh, I see… I suppose I can work with him on those areas too. We usually have our Arithmetic lessons in the afternoons, but I can shift my schedule a bit to accommodate your son and his educational needs.”

“I would appreciate that Miss Jones. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome Mr. Cartwright. I’ll work with him in the morning.”

“Thank you, Miss Jones.”  
Tipping his hat, Ben Cartwright mounted Buck and turned for home. 

 

Chapter 6

 

In the morning Ben and Adam checked over all that they would need to leave for the cattle drive. They would be driving them to San Francisco, and would be gone a little over a month total. Ben had not gone on the cattle drive last year because of Sparky, but now he knew he had to go. It would be the longest amount of time he had ever been gone from the child and the first time both he and Adam would be gone for so long at the same time. 

Nicky sat in the great room playing with his toys before going off to school with Little Joe. The two older men both came in.  
Sparky seeing them ran to his Papa first.  
“Papa, I want to come with you!”

“No baby, I told you before, you’re not old enough to come.”

“I can rope a horse Papa, you saw me do that from the corral fence that one day.”

“I know you can and I don’t want to see you do that again young man. You’re much too small to be doing that.”

The little boy pouted.

The oldest Cartwright brother picked him up, “I’ll tell you what Sweet Pea, you be good in school and for Hop Sing and I’ll bring you something special when I get back okay?”

“No. I don’t want you to go Adam.” Tears spilled from the little boy’s eyes. 

The young man sighed. He knew this was going to be hard on the little one.  
“Look baby, I’d love to take you with me, but it is a very long ride and very dirty. You get very tired and it’s not at all fun.”

The youngster didn’t look convinced.

Ben took the child from his son’s arms, “Come here Sparky. Look, you have to be a big boy and stay here and help Hoss and Hop Sing. Your older brother needs someone to help with the barn chores because Adam and I won’t be here okay?”

“Okay.” The little boy said in a little sad voice. 

“You get ready for school now.” The man gave the little mite a light swat to his backside.

“But Papa, you and Adam will be gone for a very, very, very long time!”

“It’ll go by quicker than you know. We’ll be back before it gets too cold.”

The youngster sighed. “Yes Papa.”

“Hop Sing will come for you at lunchtime today okay?”

“Yes Papa.” Big fat tears began to fall again and Ben sighing picked up his sad little boy and hugged him tight. “Come on baby, give your Papa a big smile. I don’t want to remember my little boy with tears streaking down his face and dripping off the end of his nose.”

The man wiped his son’s eyes and face. Sparky then gave his Papa and Adam his little shy smile and Ben carried him outside and plopped him atop his pony. Little Joe came out of the barn leading Cochise and looked longingly at the cloud of dust marking where the cattle were being readied for the drive. 

“Pa, Adam, be careful and come back soon.”

“We will Little Joe. You be good for Hop Sing and Hoss now. Hoss is in charge while we’re gone along with Hop Sing. He has my permission to swat either of you if you misbehave do you understand? I want you to listen to them just like you would listen to Adam or me all right?”

Both boys answered, “Yes Papa, Yes Sir.”

Ben gave Joseph a kiss and his son flung himself into his father’s arms. He hugged his child tight. He loved both his youngsters deeply. 

Little Joe mounted and turned Cochise and looking at his little brother said, “Let’s get going or we’ll be late and Miss Jones doesn’t like it if we’re late.”

“Okay.”

The two children took off toward town. Ben gave Hoss and Hop Sing some last-minute instructions and with a wave of their hats he and his son were both off to join the drive.

Little Joe as soon as he was out of sight of the ranch house shouted over his shoulder, “Sparky, follow me, let’s ride up over the ridge and watch the cattle move off!”

“But, won’t we be late for school?”

“Don’t worry, we’ll ride real fast and get there in no time.”

The little tyke smiled then and followed his brother. They sat up on the ridge and could see for miles. The cattle were spread out in a long line with men at the beginning, along the sides and in the rear. “There they go Sparky. Isn’t it great?”

“Yes, Little Joe. If Papa stays on that trail will it take him all the way to San Francisco?”

“Sure will. They’ll be on that trail for about three weeks, then they’ll come home. It won’t take them as long to get home as it will to get there because they won’t have to keep pace with the cattle. They don’t want them to move too fast or they will lose weight and we won’t get a good price for them.”

The little boy gazed at the long line of steers and all the dust. Then he spied a wagon up ahead of the line.  
“Little Joe? What is that wagon?”

“That’s the chuck wagon. It’s for the food. It usually goes on up ahead to where the men will stop for lunch and supper. This way they will be able to eat along the way. It also carries supplies in case anyone gets hurt.”

Sparky gazed at the wagon for a little longer.

“Well, kid, we had better get a move on or we really will be late to school.”

With that Little Joe kicked Cochise into a gallop and the little boy did the same with Blaze. The boys slowed their mounts at the edge of town, because if they galloped through town someone would be bound to tell someone at the Ponderosa and they would both be in trouble. 

They had just left the student corral when Miss Jones rang the bell and the youngsters entered the schoolhouse. 

As Miss Jones set the other children in the different grades with assignments she began an Arithmetic lesson with Sparky. The boy had grown used to being given a reading assignment each day and when this wasn’t forthcoming He frowned. “Nicky, you, Patrick, Nancy and Kristy will be working with some Arithmetic problems this morning. Being you aren’t here in the afternoons you have been missing out on learning these things.”

“But Miss Jones, I don’t want to do Arithmetic! I want to do a reading assignment” the little boy blurted out.

“Nicholas Cartwright, you don’t just blurt out your displeasure in the classroom. You ask permission before you speak.”

“Yes Ma’am” Sparky said reddening with embarrassment. 

“Now children, get out your slates and pencils.”  
Miss Jones had the children write some addition problems on their slates and watched as they performed this task. Then seeing that all her students seemed to be catching on all right turned to teaching them how to add double columns of numbers. 

The littlest Cartwright was confused. He couldn’t quite grasp the concept of carrying the left-over number to the next column to add. He finally slammed his slate down in frustration. 

Miss Jones glanced at the child. “Nicky, are you having some trouble with your Arithmetic assignment.”

“Miss Jones, it’s stupid. I can’t seem to get it right!”

Abigail went over to the little boy and attempted to explain the concept again. The youngster pouted. He still didn’t understand. 

Miss Jones decided that it was time to call recess and allowed the children to play for a while, hoping this would give the little boy a break and help Nicky to be able to understand his arithmetic better when he returned. 

“Little Joe!”

“Hi there Sparky, what’s up?”

“I don’t understand how to add up double columns and Miss Jones doesn’t explain things the way Adam does.”

“It’s a bit confusing, but with practice you’ll understand. Maybe I can help you with it tonight.”

“Okay., do you think it would be a good idea to saddle Blaze now so that when Hop Sing comes for me we can just go? I don’t think he likes to saddle a horse very much.”

His brother smiled. He knew what the youngster meant. “Okay, it won’t hurt him to be saddled for a little while. You’ll be going home in about an hour and a half or so.” The other boy saddled the little pony and tethered him to the corral fence ready to go when Hop Sing got there.

Miss Jones called the children back into the schoolroom and continued to work with Sparky on his lessons. Finally, he slammed down his slate. “I can’t do this!”

The teacher went over to see what was wrong.  
“Nicky, what’s the matter?”

“I can’t do this and I’m not doing it!”

“Now young man, you just settle down!”

“No! I’m not doing these stupid problems and you can’t make me!”

Little Joe’s head came up at the strident voice of his little brother. He recognized Sparky’s tantrum warning signs and if he was correct there was going to be a major one in a few minutes.

“Don’t you speak to me that way Nicholas Cartwright!”

The child began to wail loudly and the teacher made a move to pick him up and stand him in the corner. 

Sparky seeing this move, ducked down under his desk, slithered under Patrick’s seat and took off like a shot out the door of the schoolhouse. 

The youngster’s brother made a move to run out after him, but Miss Jones said, “Little Joe, sit back down! I’ll handle this!”

Miss Jones left the schoolhouse quickly and catching up with the little boy grabbed him by the wrist and dragged him back into the schoolhouse.

“Let me go! Let me go!”

“You will not run out of the school that way young man. You will stand in the corner!”

Miss Jones dragged Sparky inside with him crying hard and howling, “Let me go! Let me go!”

When she finally got him to the corner he tried to sit down and Miss Jones was extremely tempted to turn the little boy across her knee and administer a very hard spanking, but knew she was forbidden to do so unless she wanted to be dismissed. Sparky finally bit her on the hand and Miss Jones let out a surprised yelp “Ouch!”

The youngster again took off out of the school and ran across the yard, climbed up on the corral and slid onto Blaze. He was able to get the reins untied and took off at a gallop.

Miss Jones was shocked. She had never had a student bite her no less take off for parts unknown. 

 

Chapter 7

 

Sparky rode as fast and as far as he could tears streaming down his little face. When he finally slowed Blaze, he caught sight of a cloud of dust ahead. He suddenly realized that his Papa and Adam were there and headed the little pony onto the trail to San Francisco. 

<<<<>>>>

Miss Jones was frantic. “Little Joe, get Sheriff Coffee quick!”

The youngster was frustrated. He wanted to just saddle up Cochise and go after Sparky except he hadn’t seen what direction his little brother had taken and he didn’t want to be wandering around not knowing where to look for him. He headed down the boardwalk to the Sheriff’s office. 

There was a note pinned on the door stating that he had gone to Silver City and wouldn’t be back until late in the afternoon. 

The boy went back to the school and told Miss Jones. She was distraught. For sure she would be fired for losing the president of the school board’s son! 

“Little Joe, you’ll have to get someone at the Ponderosa.”

“Hop Sing will be here soon Miss Jones We’ll see what he says.”

<<<<>>>>

Hop Sing with his Cooley hat came riding up on one of the more docile animals from the Cartwright barn. He looked with surprise at Little Joe and Miss Jones in the schoolyard.  
“What the matter?”

“Hop Sing, Sparky got upset, had a tantrum and took off on Blaze. We don’t know which direction he went in. Sheriff Coffee is in Silver City and won’t be back until late this afternoon. 

The Chinese man looked worried. He glanced up on the horizon and saw thunderheads gathering and knew it would rain before the Sheriff would be able to help.  
“Mister Hoss rode up to Red Rock Canyon this morning. Hop Sing ride and find Mister Hoss. Tell him about little brother. Mister Hoss good at tracking. He find little brother.”

“But Hop Sing, Red Rock Canyon is at least a two-hour ride from here!”

Most hands-on drive Little Joe. Only old ones stay.”

“How about Mr. Devlin?”

“Mister Devlin leave on own drive two days ago. Most men gone.”

The boy looked at Hop Sing with a worried expression. He knew that Hoss was their only resource and so said, “I can ride for Hoss. Cochise is faster than Buttercup there and I know the way.”

“Father no want Little Joe at Red Rock Canyon.”

“Hop Sing, this is an emergency! Pa won’t mind if you give me permission!”

“Okay, boy go, but be careful!”

“Okay Hop Sing, thank you!”  
The youngster rode up toward Red Rock Canyon to see if he could find his older brother. 

<<<<>>>>

Miss Jones went back to the school. She dismissed the children for lunch and took time to compose herself. All the youngsters were worried about Nicky Cartwright, but there was nothing she could do. Mr. Cartwright had warned her about the boy’s volatile temper and that she shouldn’t force Nicky when he got into one of those moods, just write a note home so he could deal with the problem. She had escalated the tantrum by trying to force the little boy and this was the result. 

<<<<>>>>

Sparky continued to ride Blaze along the trail. He was getting hungry and hot. He found a small stream and thought about getting down for a drink, but then didn’t see anything around big enough for him to be able to mount Blaze again and decided he’d better just continue on. If he could catch up with the chuck wagon he could get something to eat. 

<<<<>>>>

Little Joe rode until he reached the canyon. He searched and it took him another hour to find Hoss. By then the sky had darkened significantly and rumbles of thunder could be heard in the distance.

“Hoss! Hoss! Hold Up!”

The older Cartwright boy pulled up on Chub hearing his younger brother Joe’s cries.

The youngster pulled up breathing hard and Cochise blowing and snorting from the hard ride.

“What’s wrong Little Joe?”

“Sparky’s gone!”

“What do ya mean gone?”

“Yeah, he had a tantrum at school, ran out, got up on Blaze and galloped off to who knows where!”

“Okay, how did he get Blaze saddled and all in order to take off?”

“He asked me to saddle Blaze at recess so that when Hop Sing came he wouldn’t have to do it and they could leave right away.” 

“Ya calm down now. We’ll have ta go back ta the school yard and see if I can pick up some tracks. We’ll go from there.”

The older brother turned his horse toward town and He and his younger brother rode back at a trot because Cochise was too tired for Little Joe to push hard. 

<<<<>>>>

Sparky rode on along the dusty trail. He felt the sun burning his fair skin. He had his hat, but had no gear for a long trip. The little boy’s saddle bags were empty. 

The youngster continued to ride and realized after a while that he was no longer hot and his skin wasn’t burning so much anymore. The sun had gone behind some clouds. When he came around a bend and saw the thunder clouds he was a little bit worried. He remembered how the rain had come down hard and how a wall of water had knocked him off Blaze. He suddenly realized this riding off alone might not have been such a good idea after all, but thought the cloud of dust he had been following was a bit bigger and even though Papa might be mad he wanted to be with him. 

<<<<>>>>

Hoss and Little Joe returning to the schoolyard could find no tracks because they had been obliterated by the other children’s mounts. 

The older boy began to ride wider and wider circles, but still could find nothing. He and Little Joe had examined the trail leading back to the Ponderosa and still found nothing. They began to work on the trail leading out of town in the opposite direction when the skies opened up and a deluge of rain came down erasing effectively any tracks the boys might have found. 

<<<<>>>>

Sparky jumped when there was a flash of light and a crack of thunder booming across the skies. Blaze fortunately was a very steady pony and was not unduly bothered by the thunderstorm. The skies opened up and soaked the child and his pony through. The little mite opened his mouth to catch some of the rain and it helped him with his thirst. He felt himself slipping and sliding on the saddle. He had to shift and adjust himself frequently which made Blaze prance. His legs and bottom were becoming sore from having to hang on so tight. He also could no longer see the cloud of dust ahead of him, but he knew Papa and Adam still had to be there. 

<<<<>>>>

Ben Cartwright saw the storm brewing and was very glad there were no water crossings for some time yet. They would stop before they had to deal with a water crossing. They would face the first one in a few days. Usually this part of the drive was fairly easy. He was glad of his slicker in the pouring rain and the men stayed fairly dry as they continued to herd the frightened steers along the trail. 

When the rain stopped a breeze came up and by the time they made camp most of the trail was dry, not so muddy. 

<<<<>>>>

Hoss and Little Joe looked at each other. There was nothing they could do now in the rain. They would have to wait for it to stop and then try again. They went back to the Ponderosa, allowing the horses to rest and getting some food in them. Then they prepared to camp out overnight and packing some supplies set off again after supper to see if they could find their baby brother. 

 

Chapter 8

 

Sparky was getting tired. He was sore now, but no longer slipping around in his saddle. The rain had stopped and a breeze came up and he shivered. His sunburn was giving him the chills and his damp clothing was not helping. He continued on however thinking he’d come up to the cattle and his Papa sometime soon. 

Ben and Adam made sure the camp was secure. All the men had eaten and those who were on the night watch for the cattle went out to the herd. His son would be with the first watch and he would go out with the second. Ben threw the dregs of his cup of coffee on the fire and crawled into his sleeping roll. 

<<<<>>>>

Hoss and little Joe again rode out toward the west end of town trying to pick up a trail without success. They headed a bit more west and finally it got too dark to see so they had to make camp.  
“Hoss, I hope the little mite is all right. I’m really worried.”

“Me too little brother. I can guarantee however that when we do find him I’m going to give him a spanking for this.”

“Aw Hoss, you don’t want to do that. He was awfully upset and I think with Pa and Adam leaving this morning that that made him even more upset than usual.”

“Well, Blaze is a smart little pony and he knows his way home. If Sparky gives him his head he’ll take him home. He knows that.”

“Yeah, but when our baby brother gets stubborn Blaze may not get his head until he falls asleep on him.”

The older boy smiled because he knew his younger brother was right. 

“Well Little Joe, I think we should get some sleep ourselves. We can decide what to do in the morning.”

The two boys rolled up in their sleeping rolls and were soon snoring. 

<<<<>>>>

Hops Sing sat at home worrying and praying to his Gods. That little boy sure could get into some mighty frightening situations. It hadn’t been enough that he had been lost in a snowstorm last fall, almost drowned this past spring and almost died from being ill in the late spring. Now he had to ride off on his own and worry everyone half to death. He sure was going to feel his wooden spoon when he got him back. That Miss Jones was the most incompetent person he had ever known. If she had been the kind of school teacher the little boy needed this wouldn’t have ever happened. 

<<<<>>>>

Sparky felt hot and cold at the same time. He was sleepy and fought to stay awake, but finally lost the battle slumping forward over the mane of his pony. 

<<<<>>>>

Ben awoke with a start when he heard the soft clop clop and suddenly saw Blaze come walking into camp with one very little Cartwright slumped on top. The animal stopped and stood quietly in front of Ben. He shaking his head got up, reached up and pulled the little mite off his pony. The child was cold as ice yet his skin was hot. 

Sparky groaned, opened his large grey eyes and whispered “Papa?” Then closed them again. 

Ben felt the damp clothing and stripping the little mite wrapped him in a blanket and laid him in his bed roll. Then he took the little pony, brought him to where the other saddle horses were and rubbed him down. He removed the soaked saddle blanket and draped it over a tree limb to dry out. He also placed the saddle so it too could dry out. It would need cleaning and oiling so it wouldn’t get stiff and crack. It would be one of the punishment chores that little boy would be doing. Ben then made sure Blaze was grazing and returned to his child. He crawled back into his bed roll pulling the exhausted youngster next to him for warmth and went back to sleep. 

<<<<>>>>

When Adam came to wake Ben, he was surprised to find a little blanket wrapped bundle tucked in next to his father. “Pa?”

“Yes son?”

“It’s time for you to take over.”

“Okay.” The older man extracted himself from the bedroll. 

Adam looked at the blanket wrapped bundle. “What’s that Pa?” Pointing to the bundle.

“Not what son, who.”

“Huh?”

“Your brother Sparky is wrapped up in that blanket.”

The young man looked shocked.

“I’m not sure what the story is son. Just keep an eye on him for me okay? I think he’s a bit warm and if you can make some willow bark tea and get some down him I think it would be a good idea.”

“Yes Sir.”

Adam went to do as his father asked as Ben got ready to take his turn with the herd.

<<<<>>>>

Hoss and Little Joe woke and stretched. “Guess we’d better take another look around before we head back Little brother, but I want to say I don’t know what to do if we don’t find any tracks. 

Then a thought occurred to the younger boy and he felt afraid, but he knew his older brother would understand. “Hoss?”

“Yeah Little Joe?”

“Umm… I just had a thought.”

“Yeah?”

“Umm… uh… yesterday, after Pa left I took Sparky up to the ridge to see the cattle being driven away.”

“Why didn’t you say so before now? I should pound ya!”

“Hoss, I didn’t think of it until just now. You don’t think the little mite rode to catch up with Pa, do you?”

“Well, if he walked to the Ponderosa from the Silver Eagle mine that time anything is possible with him Little Joe.”

“Pa will be really mad if he does that.”

“Yep and he’ll probably experience the wrath of Pa.”

The younger brother shivered. He had only experienced his father’s full wrath once in his short life and his backside still twinged when he thought of it. 

“Well, we’ll ride along that way for a bit and see if we can find anything that tells us if Sparky traveled that trail.”

<<<<>>>>

Adam got the tea and brought it back to his father’s bed roll. He shook Sparky and when the little boy opened his eyes he said, “Baby, I want you to sit up and drink this tea for me okay?”

“No, tired.” The little mite mumbled.

The older boy put the cup to the child’s mouth and wished they had one of Hop Sing’s baby bottles like they had had when Sparky had been so sick at home. He tipped the cup some and the little boy swallowed. The young man kept doing this until the tea just dribble out of the youngster’s mouth and he was sound asleep.

Adam crawled into the bed roll then and pulling the little blanket wrapped bundle close to him fell asleep. 

<<<<>>>>

Ben walking back into the camp at Daybreak heard some of the men exclaim, “Now where do ya think that little animal came from?”

“I think one of the horses shrunk overnight.”

“Naw, that’s impossible.”

“Stupid, dontcha know that’s just a Mustang pony?”

“A pony? What the devil is a pony doing in the string? No one here is small enough to ride one and it wasn’t there last night.”

Ben came up to the men. “The pony belongs to my youngest son. I’m not sure what happened, but his pony wandered in here late last night with the little mite on top of him.”

“I thought it looked like Blaze, but I couldn’t imagine how he would have gotten here one of the Ponderosa hands said.

“Well, you are right. I also think the boy is very sick.”

“Boss, we can’t have a sick kid traveling with us!”

“It’s my child and I’m the boss of this drive. I make the decisions.” He said sternly.

“What are ya going ta do with him boss?”

“First help him to get better. Then find out what happened and then paddle his little behind good if it’s warranted.”

“Bet this would be the first cattle drive ya had ta paddle a behind on huh boss?”

“Not that I haven’t been tempted a time or two.” The older man said wryly. 

All the men laughed at that. 

 

Ben strode over to where Adam was just awakening. “How is Sparky?”

“I’m not sure Pa. I just woke up. I got some of that willow bark tea down him last night before he fell sound asleep. He hasn’t stirred since then.”

The older man got down on the ground and scooped up the blanket wrapped child. His face and arms were all red and his skin was hot to the touch. When Ben unwrapped the blanket, he saw however that the redness was sunburn, not exactly fever. He knew the youngster would be in some pain. He knew however the sunburn would either fade into a golden brown or peel and come off. 

Sparky’s grey eyes opened then.

“Hi little one.”

“Hi Papa, I’m cold.”

“Are you hungry?”

“Tired Papa.”

“I see.”

The little boy snuggled down in the blanket in his father’s arms and went back to sleep. Ben carried the little mite with him to the breakfast fire and laid him on the tail of the chuck wagon. 

“Is he okay Boss?” Cookie asked. 

“He has some sunburn, but seems to be mostly tired. I’ll bet he’ll be pretty sore to boot. He hasn’t ever ridden this long a distance before.”

“Probably no sorer than when you get done paddling his backside.” The man replied.

“Well, a paddling is to be seen. I don’t punish my children without good cause.”

The subject of Ben’s disciplining his son was closed at that point. The men knew better than to bring it up again when the Boss spoke in that certain tone. 

 

Chapter 9

 

When Sparky finally woke up the men were packing up the chuck wagon getting ready to go. 

Ben seeing the little tyke sit up and wince asked, “Are you hungry?”

“Yes, Papa and thirsty.”

The child’s father handed him a biscuit and the canteen full of water. When the little boy had had his fill, Ben tried to see if the youngster had a fever. He still seemed hot to the touch, but the man thought it was more the sunburn than illness. 

The little mite shivered. Papa, I’m cold and hot. My face and arms hurt. My backside and legs hurt too.”

“I’m not surprised little boy. Papa has to get this drive going. You and I are going to have a little talk along the way.”

“Papa, you’re going to let me come with you? Do you mean a talk, talk?”

“Yes, I decided to take you along with me, and yes, a talk, not a spanking. That is usually a necessary talk. After we talk we’ll see if you will be getting a spanking”

“Oh.”

Ben gave Sparky some willow bark tea, helped him to get dressed in his now dry clothes, take care of his personal business and then tied Blaze to the back of the chuck wagon and making a pallet laid the boy inside. “You stay put little one do you hear?”

“Yes Papa.”

“I’ll come for you in a little while. Papa has things he has to do first.”

“Okay Papa.” Sparky promptly fell asleep and the rocking of the chuck wagon lulled him into a very deep slumber. 

<<<<>>>>

Ben rode out to where his oldest son was and said, “Adam, I’ll need someone to spell me in a bit. As soon as we hit the first town that has a telegraph I’ll send a wire to the Ponderosa telling them I have Sparky and that I’m taking him with me.”

The young man looked at his father puzzled. “Are you sure this is the right decision Pa?”

The family patriarch knew he probably should send the child back home, but also knew deep inside he hadn’t felt comfortable leaving his son and now that he was here, well, he just couldn’t bring himself to do it. He might be a foolish old man and it might be selfish on his part too, but he just couldn’t seem to help it when it came to this child. He realized there probably would be times during this trip when he might regret this decision, but it was his to make and he would stand by it. 

“I’m sure it’s the right decision Adam. He can ride in the chuck wagon most of the time or on Blaze if he needs to. He won’t be riding with the herd though. 

The young man nodded his understanding. He knew then the real reason his father was making this decision. He couldn’t fault him. Adam knew Pa would take care of the little one and he didn’t want to be in his shoes when their father finally came down on his little brother for his recent behavior either. 

<<<<>>>>

Hoss and Little Joe continued along the trail for a bit, but found no sign of the boy or his pony. 

“Do you think he might have gone up to the caves Hoss?”

“I don’t think he knows about them Little Joe. We don’t go up there anymore and I don’t think anyone has even talked about them in his hearing.”

“That’s true. I don’t have any idea where else to look. There’s a lot of land here and we could look for days.”

The older boy sighed. “I guess the best thing to do is to try to send a wire to Pa and hope he gets it and lets us know what to do.”

Little Joe hated the idea of giving up on his little brother, but there wasn’t much more they could do.

Hoss shivered at what Pa’s reaction would be to the news that their little brother had gone missing. The last few incidents where Sparky had been nearly lost had been extremely hard on their father. The boy just didn’t know if their Pa could handle one more incident, but also knew he needed to know what had happened. 

As the two brothers rode back into town to let Miss Jones know they still had no idea where the littlest Cartwright had disappeared to Roy Coffee flagged them down. “Boys, there’s a telegram from your father at the telegraph office. They’ve been trying to find you for an hour now!”

“Yes, Sheriff Coffee. We’ll go right now!” The Cartwright boys headed for the telegraph office and burst in. Mr. Tanner looked up as they flew into the office.

“Well, I see Sheriff Coffee finally tracked you two down.”

“Yes Mr. Tanner, he said there was a telegram for us.”

“Yes… let me see… oh yes, here it is.” The man handed them a yellow envelope with the message sealed inside. Hoss tore it open and read:

Everyone stop Sparky with us stop taking him with us to SF stop Talk when we get home stop Pa 

“Whee! Sparky’s with Pa! I don’t know how he got there, but Pa’s taking him along to San Francisco and will talk to us when he gets back.”

“Hoss, I don’t know I’d want to be that little boy right now. I bet Pa paddles him good and then old Adam will give him school work to do every day too.”

“Well, I guess we better let Miss Jones know and get home to Hop Sing and tell him the news.”

The boys thanked Mr. Tanner and rode over to the schoolhouse. 

Little Joe gave everyone the news and then headed home. 

When the brothers got back to the ranch they shared the good news with Hop Sing.

“Humph, little boy deserve Hop Sing wooden spoon. Hop Sing hope father teach little boy lesson.”

“Don’t worry Hop Sing, I think you can count on it.”

“Hop Sing know father will teach little boy, but Hop Sing not happy.”

“I know, that little guy sure gives us all grey hair, even at my age!” Little Joe exclaimed. 

Hoss laughed at his younger brother’s pronouncement. He sure had hit the mark on that one. 

<<<<>>>>

Ben rode up to the chuck wagon after he had sent the telegram. Sparky was sore, but awake and seemed better than earlier. 

“Cookie, I’m taking Sparky with me on Buck. Blaze is still tethered to the chuck wagon. I’ll catch up to you for lunch.”

“Okay Boss. The little one slept most of the time.”

“Thanks Cookie.”

Ben settled Sparky on his saddle with him and rode Buck to the front of the herd. He saw Adam a bit back, just before he was going to have to take his turn at riding drag and came up to him.  
“Hi Pa, Sparky.”

“Hi son, I sent the telegram off to the Ponderosa. I told them we have Nicky and that we were taking him to San Francisco.”

“Good, at least no one will worry where he is anymore.”

“Speaking of that I’m heading back up to the front and when it’s my turn to move back here I’ll let you take Mister Nicholas here.”

Sparky didn’t like it when his father used his full name. He knew he was in trouble then. 

“Okay Pa.”

The older man rode back to the front of the herd and once in position looked at his youngest child. 

“Nicholas, I want you to tell me what happened yesterday and how come you ended up here last night.”

“Papa, it was all Miss Jones fault! She made me do Arithmetic when I didn’t want to!”

“Hmm… I see… I want to know everything Nicholas Brett Gibson Cartwright. Don’t leave anything out because if you do and I find it out later you’ll be over my knee if need be quicker than you’ll be able to say Papa! Do you understand little boy?”

“Yes Papa.” The little boy began his story and his father listened becoming more and more annoyed with his son. When Sparky told him, he had bitten Miss Jones a dark look came over the man’s face. His little boy would definitely be getting a serious spanking for that! He would wait until he wasn’t so sore from the excessive riding he had done, before disciplining him for this. That might take a day or two, but he would definitely have a bottom that he wouldn’t be able to sit on comfortably for a little while! He definitely was not happy with his child. 

 

Chapter 10

 

Sparky watched the emotions on his father’s face as he told his story. He hesitated for a moment when he saw the dark angry look that Ben displayed, showing his extreme displeasure at what he had heard about him biting miss Jones.  
“That’s the whole story Papa.”

“Nicholas, I’m not very happy with you. You will be punished for these things little boy. Especially for biting miss Jones. If I knew you were coming on this trip I would have brought the hairbrush with me because you definitely need to feel it across your behind!”

The child shed big tears. 

“I’m not quite sure how I’m going to discipline you, but I do know it will be something you’ll remember for a very long time young man.”

“Yes Papa.” The little boy said sadly. 

After a while the oldest Cartwright boy came up and took Sparky from Ben and while the youngster rode with him he asked, “Are you feeling all right?”

“I’m feeling okay, but Adam, Papa is really mad at me. He told me he wished he had brought the hairbrush along because I need to feel it on my behind.”

“So, you and Pa had your little talk?”

The child nodded his head. “I think what made him really mad was that I bit Miss Jones.”

The older boy, shocked had to hide his grin. His little brother had bitten Miss Jones!? “Umm… do you want to tell me what happened Sparky?”

“Will you spank me Adam?”

“No. That’ll be for Pa to do.”

“Okay, then I’ll tell you.” The little mite told his story again to his brother. Adam understood why their Pa was so upset with the littlest Cartwright. He had one of his temper tantrums that had escalated into a major blow up. Pa would have understood the tantrum, but biting Miss Jones, funny as it sounded, the older boy knew their father would not tolerate that kind of behavior. If nothing else that was what had sealed Sparky’s fate as far as a serious punishment was concerned. Adam felt for the little mite, but understood his father’s position in all this. 

Adam adjusted Sparky in front of him and asked, “Does your sunburn hurt?”

“Some, but it’s beginning to itch.”

“Are you very sore?”

Nicky winced as he squirmed a bit to try to find a more comfortable position. “Yes, every time I move my legs and bottom hurt.”

The older boy understood this too. He thought that if Pa had already talked to Sparky that perhaps he would be more comfortable riding in the chuck wagon. When he glanced up however the chuck wagon was nowhere in sight so Sparky was stuck with him until they caught up with it for lunch.

<<<<>>>>

When Little Joe returned to school Miss Jones took him aside. “Little Joe, is Nicholas all right?”

“I think so Miss Jones. Pa’s telegram didn’t say and I’m sure if he had been hurt or really sick or something he’d have said so.”

“I’m just glad that the child is with your father. You did say he was taking him on to San Francisco with him?”

“Yes Ma’am. They probably won’t be back for about six weeks now.”

“I hope Adam continues to work with Nicholas on his schoolwork. I’d hate to see him get behind.”

“I’m sure Pa will see to it Nicky doesn’t get behind in his schoolwork.”

Little Joe then left the schoolhouse and Miss Jones was a bit relieved not to have to deal with the littlest Cartwright for another six weeks. Her hand still bore his teeth marks.

<<<<>>>>

Sparky fidgeted around not liking to just sit on his oldest brother’s horse. He began to swing his legs and then winced as this action hurt. “Adam, I want to get down!”

“No Sparky, you can’t get down. You have to stay with me right now.”

“But I’m sore and I want to walk for a while!”

The oldest Cartwright brother saw a temper tantrum coming on. “Nicky, why don’t we play a number game?

This peaked the little boy’s interest. “What kind of number game?”

“Well, we will see who is better at multiplying numbers.”

“What’s multiply?”

“Well, it’s like adding, but faster.”

“How is it faster?”

“Let me show you. If you add two plus two how many do you have?”

“Four.”  
“Well, two times two is also four.”

“Oh.”

“If you add three twos how many would you have?”

“Umm… six.”

“That’s right. So, two times three is six.”

“So, when you say times you add that number that many times?”

Adam smiled at how quickly the child had picked up this concept. Yes, Sparky that’s right.”

“So, two times four would be eight?”

The older boy was astonished. The little mite had taken the multiplication to the next level. “Yes, exactly.”

“Okay, I’m ready to play the multiplication game.”

Adam laughed. “Sparky, when you can remember the multiplication by heart you won’t have to add all the numbers. For example, it would take you a long time to add 3 twelve times. When you know that three times twelve is thirty-six it makes it easy.”

“So, 2 times twelve is twenty-four?”

Again, the older boy was surprised by the littlest Cartwright’s grasp of the concept. “Yes Sparky, that is right.”

They recited the multiplication tables together, with Adam explaining that they began with one times one and went all the way up to twelve times twelve.

“, why do they stop there?” Nicky questioned his oldest brother. 

“Well, I really don’t know. I just know they do.” 

That seemed to satisfy the little boy. The more and more he worked with his little brother on the multiplication the more he realized Miss Jones must not have been able to put the column addition in terms the youngster could understand. He’d have to work with him on this later.

When they finally stopped for lunch Adam set Sparky on the ground. 

“Oohh! Adam, my legs and bottom hurt!”

“I’m sorry little one.” The older boy dismounted and scooped his baby brother up into one arm and led Sport. He set Sparky down again while he hobbled his horse in the grazing area. Then picking up the child walked over to the chuck wagon. 

“Hi Cookie, do you have some liniment I can have for this little mite?”

“Sure Adam, just a minute.” Cookie came back out with a jar and handed it to the young man. Adam took Nicky with him a bit away from the camp and sat on a log. “Take your jeans and under drawers down Sparky.”

The little boy looked at his older brother with trepidation. Then he slowly unbuttoned his jeans and slid them down along with his under drawers. The older boy opened up the jar and with the child standing in front of him began to massage his legs with the liniment. Then he pulled him face down over his knees. 

“Adam! I’m Sorry! Please don’t spank me!”

“Shh… little one, I’m not going to spank you. I’m going to rub in some liniment. Your backside is sore isn’t it from riding?”

“Yes.”

“Then just stay still and relax. Let me do what I have to do.”

The little boy took a deep breath and did as his big brother instructed. 

When he felt him relax he rubbed the liniment into the muscles of the child’s backside. 

<<<<>>>>

Ben finally riding into the camp for lunch saw Adam with Sparky across his knees backside bared and strode over. He smelled the liniment and knew then what his oldest son had been doing. 

“How are you doing Sparky?

“Okay Papa, I don’t like being in this position though.”

The man smiled. Not too many people, child or not liked to find themselves in that particular position.

“I’m almost finished. You’ll feel better when I’m through.”

Once Adam had thoroughly massaged Sparky’s bottom, thighs and lower legs he stood the little boy up and helped him with his clothes. Once he was all buttoned-up Ben smiled down at his young son. “Feel a little better?”

“Yes Papa. My legs and bottom are hot now.”

The child’s father grinned. Yes, that’s what happens when you rub in liniment, it relaxes the muscles so they don’t hurt so much.”

“it smells Papa.”

“Yes, but it will help.”

Ben bent down, picked up his child and hugged him tight. Even though he hadn’t planned on the little mite coming on the cattle drive with him he was glad because he knew now why he had been uncomfortable about leaving him in the first place, he would have been missing him and worrying about him. The man also knew he would have to deal with his next youngest son. He knew he was spoiling Sparky and that Little Joe might be resentful of his little brother getting to come on the cattle drive after all, when he had been told he wasn’t old enough to come yet. He would just have to deal with this when he returned. He carried the little boy back to the chuck wagon and sitting him on the tailgate handed him a plate full of food.

“Papa, Adam and me played a number game. We played multiplication.”

“Hmm… you did now did you?”

“Yes, and I beat Adam.”

Ben gave his son a glance and the boy winked at him. The man grinned. He knew Adam had arranged it so that the youngster would win. 

“Sparky is very good at his multiplication tables.”

“Well, he must take after his older brother. Not me for sure.”

Sparky grinned at this. 

After lunch Ben came up to his youngest son. “Sparky, you will stay with Cookie and ride in the chuck wagon for the afternoon. I want you to take a nap okay?”

“No, I want to ride with you or Adam.”

“No. You will stay here little boy.” The older man said sternly.

The child looked up at his Papa gauging just how serious he might be about this and just how far he could push. Seeing the stern look that could lead to receiving a swat he decided not to push and just said, “Yes Papa.”

“Very good Sparky, good choice.” Ben tousled the child’s hair and before they left for the afternoon made sure the little tyke was comfortably settled in the back of the chuck wagon. The rocking motion of the wagon soon lulled the littlest Cartwright to sleep. 

<<<<>>>>

When Sparky woke he realized his legs and backside didn’t hurt as much as they had earlier. He crawled out of his makeshift bed and tried to make his way up to where Cookie was driving the horses. 

“Mr. Cookie, May I come up there with you?”

The older man glanced back at the tiny boy. “Come on up Sparky, but be careful boy. Ifn ya get hurt ya Pa will have my hide.”

The youngster climbed over the supplies and crawled up onto the seat. “Ow!”

“What’s the matter?”

“Oohh my behind hurts on this hard seat!”

“Do ya want ta go back in again and lie down?”

“Uh uh. It’s boring back there. I think I can stand the pain for a little while.”

Cookie shook his head and smiled at the tiny boy sitting next to him. He couldn’t weigh much, maybe thirty-five pounds, but maybe that’s why his little bottom hurt so much there wasn’t much padding down there. 

“Mr. Cookie, why do the men call you Cookie?

“’Cause I’m the cook.”

“Do you have a real name?”

The man laughed. “Of course, boy. I have a real name just like ya do. Why do they call ya Sparky?”

“Papa says it was because I had a bad temper and fought with everyone when he first found me and took me home.”

“What’s ya real name boy?”

“I asked you first.”

Cookie laughed again. “My real name is Horace Singleton.”

“My real name is Nicholas Brett Gibson Cartwright.”

“Well now that sure is a mouthful.”

“Did you always have a nickname?”

“Yep. When I was a youngster like you they called me ‘Fatty’.”

“That’s mean! I’d have punched them!”

Cookie laughed again. “If I punched them my Pa would have worn me out.”

“Do you mean your Papa would have spanked you?”

“More than spanked me, he’d of taken me out to the barn and whipped me with his razor strap.”

Sparky’s large grey eyes widened and rounded. “That would have hurt!”

“Yep, wasn’t able to sit down for at least a week.”

“That’s a very long time.”

“Yep, but it learned me my lessons all right.” The older man smiled down at the little boy. 

 

Chapter 11

 

They rode along in silence for a little while. “Mr. Cookie, do you know how to play the multiplication game?”

Afraid not little one. Old Cookie here was never very good at those arithmetic problems and such.”

I can teach you. It’s easy!”

Cookie chuckled at the little boy’s enthusiasm. “Why don’t ya let old Cookie here tell ya a story okay?”

“Okay.”

The older man then went on to spin a yarn for the little boy.

When he pulled the wagon up Sparky asked, “Why are we stopping Mr. Cookie?

“It’s time for me to begin the supper for the men. This is where we will camp for the night. When they get here they’ll be hungry and thirsty. I’ll have coffee for em and a nice hot stew.”

“May I watch you prepare the supper Mr. Cookie?”

“Ya can help ifn ya want ta.”

“What do you want me to do? Hop Sing lets me snap the beans sometimes.”

“Well, I tell ya what. Ya can help old Cookie here by putting these here beans in this here pot. I’ll be right back with some water okay?”

“Yes Mr. Cookie.”

Sparky put the dry beans into the cooking pot the old man had indicated. Cookie soon returned with a couple of buckets of water from the stream. Then he poured enough water in the pot to cover the beans and with a sharp knife sliced off a few slices of bacon and put them in with the beans. Then he placed stones for a fire. 

“Do you want me to collect some wood for you Mr. Cookie?”

“Okay, but don’t go out of my sight.”

The little boy stayed around the cooking area and gathered up windfall for the fire. Cookie took a hatchet and chopped up some saplings and small tree limbs that had fallen and then began the cook fire. “Ya stay away from that fire boy do ya hear? I’m gonna go back down the trail a ways and get some logs for it. Ya stay put, no wandering around right?”

“Yes Mr. Cookie.”  
The old cook went down the trail to bring up the logs he had seen there. 

Sparky sat by the cook fire and then seeing a squirrel watched it as it scurried up the tree. When it jumped to another tree he followed it. In a bit, he was lost in the woods, but hadn’t realized it. He had continued to follow the squirrel and when he got tired realized he didn’t know which way to go to get back to the camp. 

The old man returning to the fire set the food cooking and suddenly realized there was no sign of the child. “Sparky!” Cookie called. He thought maybe the youngster had gone behind some bushes to take care of personal business. When he heard no response, the man grew worried. Where had the little boy gone? The boss would be really mad at him for not keeping a better eye on the child. 

“Sparky!” Cookie bellowed, but still there was no response. 

<<<<>>>>

Nicky was scared now. “Mr. Cookie!” He called, but heard nothing. “Mr. Cookie!”  
Sparky tried to figure out which way he had come, but had no clue. All the bushes and brush seemed to be bigger than him. 

<<<<>>>>  
The old man set the meal to cook. He knew it would be okay for a while without him having to watch it and tried to see if he could see any sign of where the littlest Cartwright had disappeared to. 

<<<<>>>>

Sparky was getting tired and he was sore. He sat on a fallen log. “Ouch!” He jumped up rubbing his sore backside. Tears began to run down his little face. He was scared, tired and sore. He lay on the ground and began to cry. 

<<<<>>>>

Cookie saw a small footprint in the soft earth at the edge of the clearing. He knew how to track and seeing broken twigs and crushed leaves followed the trail the little boy had unknowingly left. When he came upon the child, he was crying his heart out.  
The old cook bent down and gently lifting the youngster up said, “So, there ya are ya little scamp!”

“Mr. Cookie!”

Cookie carried the little boy back to the camp. Once there he put the child on the tail gate of the chuck wagon where they were at eye level. “Little boy, ya scared the living daylights outta me!”

“I’m sorry Mr. Cookie, I didn’t mean to.”

“I told ya ta stay put, didn’t I?”

“Yes Mr. Cookie.”

“Did ya listen?”

“Mr. Cookie, there was this squirrel and I was following him and well, I got lost.”

The old man understood how a small boy could be enticed by a forest creature. “Sparky, ya got ta listen ta old Cookie. Ifn ya had gotten really lost and ya Papa woulda come and found ya gone how do ya think he’d of felt?”

Tears came to the child’s big grey eyes. “Papa would have been very mad.”

“Yeah and probably fired old Cookie. Then I’d of been outta a job little boy.”

Sparky started to cry in earnest Then. “I’m sorry Mr. Cookie, I promise, I won’t ever do that again.”

“I’m sure ya wont.” Cookie picked up the littlest Cartwright and to his surprise, flipped him over and gave him a very hard swat to his sore backside. 

“Oww! Mr. Cookie! That hurt! I’m sorry! I won’t ever wander off again! I promise!”

“Okay, this will stay just between you and me this time. If ya do it again though I’m gonna have ta tell ya Papa and I’m sure he’ll give ya more than just one swat.”

“Yes Mr. Cookie” Sparky stood there tears running down his face, still rubbing his sore backside that now stung too. 

The old cook walked over and using his handkerchief wiped the tears from the youngster’s face and gave him a hug. “Ya’re forgiven boy, just don’t do that again okay?”

“Yes Sir, I promise I won’t.”

The little mite helped Cookie with the rest of the preparations and was lying down in the back of the Chuck wagon when Adam and Ben returned with the rest of the men, hungry, tired and dirty. They stopped at the stream to wash up. He came over to the cook fire and chuck wagon.  
“Cookie, how did things go this afternoon? Was Sparky any trouble?”

Things went just fine Mr. Cartwright. Nothing happened that I couldn’t handle.”

The boss man looked at both his child and the cook, but didn’t see any significant distress in either one so let the unsaid message go. “Very good. Sparky, are you still sore?”

“Umm… Yes Papa.”

“I’ll let Adam put more liniment on you then.”

“Yes Papa.” The little boy hoped there wasn’t a handprint on his behind or his older brother would want to know what happened and he would tell Papa. He nervously waited as Adam got the liniment jar and brought him near the edge of the woods where there would be a little more privacy. 

“Sparky, pull down your jeans and under drawers for me.”

The child slowly did as he was asked. Adam began to rub the liniment into the little boy’s legs and then like he did before, put him over his knee so he could gain good access to his backside. 

The older boy noticed a little pinkness on the little bottom, but said nothing. He surmised Cookie had given his little brother a good swat for something, but it was almost completely faded and so he wasn’t going to say anything. He just rubbed in the liniment real good. 

The youngster tensed a moment when his brother pulled him over his knees, but when he didn’t say anything he breathed a sigh of relief and relaxed. When Adam was finished he gave Sparky a light slap to his backside that stung a mite.

“Oww! What did you do that for?”

“Too tempting a target little brother.” 

Sparky understood that Adam had known about him getting that swat and was telling him in his own way he wasn’t going to say anything about it. 

If Pa saw a pinkened area on his little brother’s behind he would say it was from the little swat he had just given the little mite. 

Ben seeing his oldest son swat Nicky strode over. “What’s going on Adam?”

“Nothing Pa, I just couldn’t resist swatting that tempting little target. 

The elder Cartwright smiled, knowing his oldest son would never really hurt Nicky. 

“Well, stop teasing your little brother and get ready for supper.”

“Yes Sir.”

Adam helped Sparky with his clothes again and hugged the little mite, then picked him up and brought him over to the chuck wagon. He sat him on the tailgate and handed him a plate of food.

 

Chapter 12

 

Sparky ate a bit then put his plate aside almost untouched and made to slip down off the tailgate of the chuck wagon.

Ben seeing this went over and picking up the child sat him back up on the tailgate. “Young man, you will eat your supper.”

“Papa, I ate all I want.”

“Nicholas, you haven’t eaten hardly anything. You will not leave this spot until you eat more than this.”

The youngster looked up at his Papa with tears in his large grey eyes. 

“Those tears aren’t going to get you out of eating your supper little boy. I’m tired of fighting with you on this. You aren’t so sore that we can’t have a very necessary talk.”

“Yes Papa.” Sparky, not wanting to be embarrassed in front of everyone picked up his plate and ate some more of his supper. When he put his plate down he had eaten more than half and his father was satisfied. 

Papa? May I get down now?”

“Yes, but stay in the area. Don’t wander. Don’t go by the horses either.”

“Yes Papa.”

Sparky got down from the chuck wagon tailgate and walked over to his oldest brother. “Adam, I tried to play the multiplication game with Mr. Cookie, but he said he didn’t know how to play.”

“Well, little one, when I’m finished eating I want to help you with learning to add columns of numbers okay?”

“Yes Adam. I’d like that.”

When the older boy finished his supper, he found a pencil and some foolscap and sitting by the light of the fire he wrote down two columns of numbers. “Sparky, come here and let me show you about adding columns.”

The little boy came over to his brother and Adam knowing the youngster still had a sore bottom sat him in his lap. 

“Sparky, when we add up numbers we add in tens. What that means is that when you count, all the numbers are one number until you get to the number ten. To make that number you have to use two numbers, a one and a zero.”

Nicky watched as Adam wrote down the numbers one through nine and then the number ten. 

“The zero is to keep place. It has no value. That is why when you add one and zero the answer is still one. Do you understand?”

“Yes.”

“So, when we write the next ten numbers they each have a one next to them like this, Adam wrote the numbers eleven through nineteen. “Now we’re ready to write the second series of ten and because they are the second series we write the number two in front of the zero and now have the number twenty.”

“Then the third set will have a three in front of it and the fourth will have a four in front of it?”

The older boy smiled at how quickly the little boy picked this up. “Exactly. Now, if I want to add the numbers ten, twenty and thirty I would find that all the zeros because they have no value still add up to zero. Now, if I add the numbers in the next column, how much do they add up to?”

The child looked at the one, two and three and said, “Six.”

“Correct. Now, if I add ten, twenty-four and thirty-six I have to add each column separately again. So, zero and four is how much?”

“Four”

“Correct. And how much is four and six?”

“Umm… ten.”

“Very good. Now how do we write the number ten?”

“We use a one and a zero.”

“Correct. Now since there can only be single numbers in a column I have to put the zero on the bottom of the right column and I need to add the one to the left column because there isn’t any room for it in the right column. That’s called carrying over.” The older boy wrote the one on the left column. “Now when we add up the numbers on the left column we add the one, two, three and the extra one we carried over. How much does that add up to be Sparky?”

“Umm… seven.”

“That’s exactly right.” Adam gave the little boy a big hug.  
“Do you want to try another one?”

“Yes.”

“Okay, let’s add twenty-two, thirty-three and forty-four. How do we do this?”

“We add the numbers on the right first.”

“Yes. What do they add up to?”

“Umm… nine.”

“That’s correct. Now the left column.”

“Nine again.”

“Yes. Why didn’t we have any numbers to carry over?”

“Because they didn’t add up to ten the only added up to nine which is a single number.”

“Correct! Now… add these numbers.” Adam wrote sixty-six, fifty-five and forty-four.

“Umm… the right column is fifteen.”

“So how do we write that down?”

“We put the five at the bottom of the column because it is a single number and the one we add to the next column?”

“Yes. Exactly right! Now add the left column.”

“Sixteen.”

“Very good. Now, because there are no more columns of numbers to add we just write sixteen down next to the five. What number is that Sparky?”

The child looked at the number 165. “I don’t know Adam.”

“It is called one hundred sixty-five. As the numbers move to the left they grow bigger. The first row, here on the right is the single numbers one through nine. The second column is our ten so they go, ten, twenty, thirty, forty, fifty, sixty, seventy, eighty, and ninety. Remember when we multiply ten times ten?”

“Yes, you get one hundred!”

“Yes! The third column from the left is called the hundred columns. The fourth column is then called one thousand.”

“That would be ten one hundred then?”

“Yes! You got it Sparky! See, that wasn’t so hard was it!?”

“Not when you explain it Adam.” The little boy smiled and the older one gave him a big hug. It was exactly as he had suspected. Miss Jones hadn’t been patient with the little mite and hadn’t explained it in a way he could understand. 

<<<<>>>>

Ben smiled watching the dark-haired son with the tiny blonde haired one. He could almost imagine Adam with his own little son sitting there teaching him his arithmetic. 

Unbeknownst to Adam he had had an audience and now several of the other men also had some idea as how to add up columns of figures when they had had problems with that before. 

The Cartwright patriarch walked over to where his sons were working. Well little boy, I think you’ve had enough for tonight. Adam has work to do and you need to go to bed.”

“Work? It’s getting dark Papa.”

“Yes, that’s why your brother has to go to work. He has to make sure all the steers go to sleep too.”

“How does he do that Papa?”

“He rides around the edge of the herd with another man who does the same and makes sure the steers all stay together. The two men sing or hum quietly to them to help them relax.”

“How come?”

“So, the steers won’t get nervous about being in a strange place and go to sleep.”

“Can I ride with Adam?”

“No. You need to go to bed.”

Sparky pouted and Ben pulled the little boy onto his lap. “Nicholas, I want you to listen to me and pay attention to what I’m going to tell you.”

The little boy looked up at his Papa knowing it must be very important if he is calling him by Nicholas.

“Herding steers can be a very dangerous thing. They are animals and don’t understand why they are being made to walk all this way. They get easily scared and can get it into their heads to begin to run without thinking about where they go. If that happens it is called a stampede. If someone gets caught in one they can be badly injured or even die. It’s my job to keep all the men on my cattle drive safe. That young man, includes you too. I’m going to warn you right now son if you don’t follow my rules or my instructions I will have to punish you more harshly than I would at home. Out here it can mean your life. Do you understand?”

“Yes Papa.”

“If I tell you no when you ask something it is because I’m concerned for your safety just like any of the other men who are under my care during the drive. I have to tell them no sometimes too.”

Sparky looked at Ben then and was a bit surprised to see the honesty in his father’s eyes.

“You really tell grown men no Papa?”

“Yes.”

“If they misbehave do you give them a necessary talking to?”

Ben almost smiled at the question. “No. I have to fire them, tell them they no longer can work for me.”

“That would be pretty bad wouldn’t it Papa?”

“Yes, it would.”

I’ll try real hard to follow the rules and the things you tell me to do Papa. I don’t want a necessary talk.”

Ben did smile then. “Very good. Mister, it’s time for you to go to bed okay?”

“Yes Papa.”  
The man helped the little mite to wrap up in his blanket and laid him next to him in his own bed roll.

 

Chapter 13

 

When Adam came to wake Ben, he saw the little bundle tucked in with his Pa and smiled.  
“Pa? Time to get up.” The boy called softly, touching his father on the shoulder gently.

The man came awake at his son’s touch and they exchanged places. Adam snuggled into the bed roll and tucked his little brother close to him and went to sleep.

Sparky woke to find his brother tucked up next to him. “Adam?”

“Hmm…?”

“I need to use the bushes.”

The older boy sat up blearily and helped his baby brother get untangled from the blankets. He led him over to some nearby bushes and helped him with this necessary little chore. 

“Sparky, it’s early yet, why don’t we go back to sleep for a little while longer?”

“Okay Adam.”

The older boy tucked the child into the blanket again and they went back to sleep.

After breakfast Ben got the saddle soap and leather oil and plopped Sparky into the Chuck wagon as they prepared to leave. The child looked up at his Papa puzzled. 

His father placed Blaze’s saddle on his lap. “I see you’re not too sore today.”

“I don’t hurt hardly at all Papa.”

“Good. I have a job for you little boy. Because you rode Blaze in the rain you are going to have to clean and oil his saddle so it doesn’t get brittle and crack. First you will clean it with the saddle soap. Then you will oil it until the leather is no longer stiff. Do you understand?”

“I’m not sure, I’ve never done this before.”

“I will show you how it’s done. Sparky, I expect this saddle to be cleaned and well-oiled by the time we stop to get ready to cross the river. That will be in a couple of hours. If you stick to your task and not stop and get distracted you will have plenty of time to finish this and still have time to talk to Cookie before we have to stop. If, however, this saddle isn’t cleaned and oiled by then I will be giving you a very necessary talking to and you will have a hard time sitting in the saddle. You will then finish the task under my personal supervision is that understood?”

“Yes Papa.”

Ben looked his child in the eye. After we cross this river and camp for the night you and I still have to have a necessary talk about what you did that ended you up here and especially biting Miss Jones.”  
The youngster looked at his father a little surprised and with some trepidation. He had hoped his Papa had forgotten about that. 

“I see you thought I had forgotten about your punishment. I didn’t little boy, I just didn’t want to punish you while your bottom was so sore from riding.”

“Yes Papa.” Sparky replied looking dejected. 

Ben hugged him then and left him to his chore. 

Nicky set to work on the saddle. He worked hard to finish the job. He didn’t want a spanking and then another one tonight as well. 

Ben caught up to the chuck wagon about mid-morning. He was pleased to see his son had finished his task and had done a good job with his pony’s saddle as heavy as it was for the little boy.  
“Sparky, you did a very good job on this. I’m very proud of you sticking to the task and finishing it!” The man gave the littlest Cartwright a big hug. 

“Thank you, Papa.”

“You stay here now. I need to check the river and decide how we’ll get across it.”

“Yes Papa.”

<<<<>>>>

This was the first river crossing of the drive. They would have to lighten the chuck wagon a bit, but the place was shallow enough for the cattle and horses to cross fairly safely. Ben would send the chuck wagon and Sparky across the river first. Then they would begin to drive the cattle across. Hopefully they wouldn’t lose any in the crossing. 

The elder Cartwright was a little worried about his youngest son. He wasn’t going to be able to ride in the chuck wagon and Blaze might have to swim part of the crossing. He didn’t want to have the child in front of him on his own saddle while he was trying to drive the cattle either. He decided he would have to let the boy ride across on his own.  
“Sparky, come here please.!” Ben called the little boy.

“Yes Papa?”

The man sat his small son on his knee. “I want you to listen very carefully to what I am going to tell you. You must do exactly as I say do you understand?”

“Yes Papa.”

“We are going to cross this river. Cookie is going to drive the chuck wagon across to the other side. You can’t ride in the wagon because we need to have as little weight as possible so it doesn’t get bogged down in the mud. Understand?”

“Yes Papa.”

“I want you to ride Blaze across the river. The water may get too deep for Blaze and he may need to swim part of the way. You are to under *no* circumstances get off your saddle. I want you to hang onto Blaze the whole way. If you feel him begin to swim let him. He’ll know when to stop and will come up the bank on the other side. Don’t hold his reins tight. Give him his head. If you end up downstream away from the rest of us you are to stay put until Adam or I come for you. Is that clear?”

“Yes Papa.” Sparky put his hand in his mouth and began to chew on his fingers. 

His father reached out and gently removed them. “Sweet Pea there is nothing to be nervous about. You do exactly as I told you and everything will be okay, all right?”

“Yes Papa.”

“Good boy.” Ben gave the little mite a hug. He saddled Blaze as Cookie lightened the load from the wagon. He would pack the unloaded supplies on some of the other horses using them temporarily as pack animals. When all was prepared Ben sent Cookie across. 

The wagon entered the water and then rolled across without a hitch. The elder Cartwright hadn’t realized he had been holding his breath. He was happy there hadn’t been any problems so far. He also saw that the water might be just shallow enough that the little pony may not have to swim across after all. 

Ben led Blaze to the water’s edge and watched as his youngest and most precious child crossed the river. The pony was sure footed and only had to swim a short distance when he reached the middle of the river. 

Sparky gave Blaze his head as his father had told him. He was a little startled when he felt the ground disappear under his pony’s hooves and his pony’s movement under him as he swam. The little boy had never ridden his pony when he swam before and it was an odd sensation. He was relieved when the little animal had solid ground under him again and scrambled up onto the bank. The youngster laughed when Blaze shook himself and water droplets went all over the place sprinkling the little boy in the process. Nicky then rode Blaze up to the chuck wagon. 

Adam breathed a sigh of relief when he saw his little brother safely on the other side. He hadn’t realized he had been holding his breath, especially when he had seen the little boy’s mount begin to swim for a bit.  
“He got across okay Pa.”

“Yes, he did exactly what I told him to do.”

“I’m sure glad he listened for once.”

“I told him if he didn’t I would be having a necessary talk with him before our little punishment session tonight.”

“You’re going to address his behavior in school with him tonight?”

“Yes. I don’t want to drag it out too long. He’s going to be one unhappy little boy for the next few days. He should be okay by the next river crossing.”

The older boy grimaced. He understood the implication his father had made that his little brother was going to experience for the first time Pa’s full wrath. 

<<<<>>>>

Cookie approached the littlest Cartwright. “Sparky, ya Papa said I should take ya down from ya pony if ya made it across to me.”

“Okay Mr. Cookie.”

The little boy allowed the old man to take him down from Blaze. 

Cookie then unsaddled the little pony placing his saddle blanket so it would dry as it had gotten slightly wet in the crossing. He placed the saddle on the chuck wagon tailgate and then set the child to collecting wood for a fire. He would begin lunch. It would take quite a while for the cattle to come across and the men would need a hot meal and coffee. 

“Little one, ya stay here by Cookie. Ya Papa don’t want ya near them steers do ya hear?”

“Yes Mr. Cookie. I’ll stay by the chuck wagon.”

“Good boy.”

While Cookie worked on preparing the meal Sparky stood on the tailgate of the chuck wagon to watch the steers being driven across the river. He saw the men with their horses alongside the steers guiding them across. When they got to the other side the cow pokes that had come across began to ride around the herd in circles while the other men continued to drive the steers across. The herd was growing bigger and bigger and the little mite watched with interest. 

When the youngster saw his father and brother ride up from the river’s edge he made to jump down from the tailgate and run up to them, but Cookie grabbed him by the back of his jeans using his belt as a handle, saying, “Oh no ya don’t little boy. Ya stay right here where I putcha.”

“But I want to see my Papa and Adam!”

“Ya’ll see them soon enough. They got work ta do and don’t need no little one underfoot. When they come up here ya can see them.”

The little boy pouted. 

The old man tipped up the youngster’s face and said sternly, “Little boy ifn ya don’t stop pouting I’m a gonna swat ya seat for ya do ya understand?”

Sparky’s eyes widen and rounded at what Cookie had said to him. He knew from past experience that Cookie wasn’t making an idle threat. That swat he had given him the other day had hurt.  
“Yes Cookie. I’ll stay put.”

“Good boy.”

<<<<>>>>

When the Cartwrights came across they were excited that they had not lost one head and that the crossing had gone so well. Ben glanced up to see Cookie grab Sparky and say something to him. He wondered for a moment what was going on, then grinned. He realized the old man had prevented the youngster from running down there. From the look on the child’s face he was going to comply with Cookie’s restriction about him coming down by the steers.

“I wonder what Cookie said to him Pa?”

Ben smiled at his son. I’m not sure, but the little mite looks like he has decided to stay put.”

The two men then attended to the cattle in front of them. 

 

Chapter 14

 

Once Ben was satisfied the cattle had settled down from their crossing and were grazing peacefully he turned to Adam. “You go on up to the chuck wagon. Take half the men with you. When you are through I’ll come up with the rest of the men. When we’re finished I’ll send Cookie up ahead with Sparky and we’ll get going.”

“Yes Sir.”

<<<<>>>>

When Sparky saw Adam coming with several of the men he almost couldn’t contain himself. He was going to jump down again, but a stern look from Cookie made him stop short. He did however swing his legs over the edge of the tailgate until his oldest brother reached him. Then the child flung himself into Adam’s arms and his older brother gave him a huge hug. 

Adam! I missed you! Where’s Papa?”

“I missed you too baby and Papa is with the steers.”

“Adam! I’m not a baby!”

“Aw Sparky, you’re always going to be a baby to me.” The older boy patted his little brother’s bottom then and put him down. “Have you eaten yet?”

“No.”

“Would you like to eat with me then?”

“Okay.”

Adam dished up beans for both himself and his little brother. Then he handed Sparky his dish and sat down on the chuck wagon tailgate with him to eat his food.

The little boy ate more than half when he looked at his big brother. “Adam, I don’t want anymore.”

“Okay, it looks like you ate pretty good anyway. Well little one, I’ve got to go and let Pa come up for something to eat. I’ll let him know you already ate and that you ate pretty good. This way he won’t try to feed you some more okay?”

Okay.”

The young man went on down and found his father. “Pa, Sparky already ate with me. He ate pretty good so you don’t have to feed him.”

“Okay son, thank you.”

“You’re welcome Pa.”

The elder Cartwright walked up to the chuck wagon with the rest of the men as those who had come to eat headed back to the steers. 

He strode over to Sparky. “Well Sweet Pea, looks like you’ve already eaten.”

“Yes, I ate with Adam Papa.”

“Good.” Ben reached down, picked up the little mite and gave him a big squeeze. He sniffed. “Little boy, you need a bath.”

“Where do you take a bath Papa?”

“In the river or a stream.”

“, I don’t have any clothes other than what I have on.”

“Hmm… that is a problem. I suppose I’ll have to buy you a change of clothes when we get near another town. Then we can wash the ones you’re wearing.”

“Can’t we just wait until we get to San Francisco?”

“Uh uh little boy. Even the men bathe at least once a week in the river or stream while we are on the trail. We each bring at least one change of clothing so we can wash out the other and have something clean to change into.”

“Oh.”

“Well, don’t worry about that now. I’ll keep an eye out for a suitable place and we’ll take care of that bath tonight.”

Sparky said dutifully, “Yes Papa.”

The boy’s father tousled his hair. “Son, taking a bath isn’t the worse thing in the world you know.”

“Yes Papa.”

The man kissed his child before he went down to the steers again and admonished him, “You listen to Cookie now. He has my permission to swat you if you deserve it.”

“Yes Papa. I’ll be good for Mr. Cookie.”

“Very good. I’ll see you when we stop for the night. Cookie and you are going to go up ahead and make camp so when we get there supper will be ready.”

“Okay. Papa, when may I ride with you again?”

“Hmm… well… not for a little while. We’ll see how you behave and follow instructions. If you’re really good maybe I’ll let you ride with Adam or me for a half day.”

“I would like that Papa.”

“I got to go now Baby. You be good okay?”

“Yes Papa. I’ll be good.”

Ben tousled Sparky’s hair and kissed him and left for the herd along with the other men. 

<<<<>>>>

Cookie packed up the chuck wagon and then making up a pallet in the rear of the wagon said, “Little one, I think ya need a nap. Ya take a nap for old Cookie and when you wake up you can come up by me and I’ll tell ya a story okay?”

Sparky was about to protest, but he decided a nap wouldn’t be too  
bad. 

Cookie put the little boy down and the rocking of the wagon lulled him into a deep sleep. 

<<<<>>>>

Little Joe sat in school and was a bit put out. Sparky was only six-years-old and was getting to go on his first cattle drive. He was Thirteen and he still hadn’t gone yet. It wasn’t fair. He was going to tell Pa so too when they got back. At recess, he joined Mitch Devlin and Seth Pruitt. 

“How do ya think Sparky is making out with ya Pa Little Joe?”

“I don’t know. It isn’t fair that he’s only six and gets to go and I don’t”

“Ya know, he just took off and ya Pa didn’t have much choice. I’d bet that little fella won’t be sitting comfortable for a week or so.”

The boy hadn’t thought about that. He hadn’t thought of just how mad his Pa might have been and that he might have done some real damage to his brother’s little behind. “Well if so he deserves it for running off like that.”

“Well, when he gets back ya can talk to ya Pa about it.”

“Yeah. My father tries to be fair. He probably will give him what he deserves.”

“Yeah and he’ll probably have to do school work too. Adam is along isn’t he?”

“Yeah. Old Adam can be as bad as Miss Jones when it comes to school work.”

Little Joe began to feel a bit better about the situation. He realized he didn’t really want to be in his little brother’s shoes when Pa taught him his lesson. Mitch was probably right. Sparky would have a sore bottom for a while.  
He also realized that his brother wasn’t going to get away with no school work and being too little to ride his pony and work with the steers would probably be stuck in the chuck wagon most of the trip and that would be boring. 

<<<<>>>>

Sparky helped Cookie set up the camp. He didn’t wander off like he had that one time and did as he was asked by the old man. When he saw the dust cloud he knew his father and his brother would be there soon. He worried about the necessary talk Papa had told him they were going to have. His backside tingled a bit in memory of other sessions he had had with his father. 

Cookie noticed the fingers in the little boy’s mouth. “Sparky, whatcha chewing on ya fingers for?”

The little boy took his fingers out of his mouth. “I’m worried Mr. Cookie. Papa told me he was going to have a necessary talk with me tonight. 

“Hmm… I guess that means ya Pa’s gonna do ya behind some damage?”

“Uh huh. He’s real mad that I bit my teacher.”

The old man raised his eyebrows at this. “Why’d ya bite her?”

“She was making me stand in the corner when I didn’t want to.”

“That don’t sound like a very good reason to bite her.”

“I know now and that’s what Papa said.”

“Hmm… I don’t know that I can say anything that’d help Sparky. I know if I were ya age and I’d a bit my teacher my Pa would’ve paddled my behind so I couldn’t sit for a week.”

“Oh.”

“I don’t know if ya Pa will do that, but I do know he’ll make sure you learn a lesson about that and that ya’ll never do that again.”

“Yes Mr. Cookie.”

<<<<>>>>

When the Cartwrights rode into camp Ben had a paper wrapped bundle tied to his saddle.  
He untied the package and strode up to the chuck wagon. “Cookie, I’d like to leave this package here for now is that okay?”

“Sure Boss. What’s in it?”

“Clothes for Sparky. I’m making sure he has a bath tonight.”

The youngster stayed sitting on the edge of the tailgate of the chuck wagon. “Hi Papa!”

“Hi Sweet Pea. I got some clothes for you as well as a couple of bars of soap. You are going to take a bath tonight and I even got you a nightshirt.”

“To sleep in Papa?”

“Yes. I don’t exactly think you sleeping in your clothes is very good for you.”

“Oh.”

The elder Cartwright recognized that his son seemed a bit subdued. He supposed the child was nervous about the punishment he was in for. He had decided to borrow Cookie’s wooden spoon to administer part of the boy’s spanking. Just his hand wasn’t going to cut it this time. He wanted Sparky to feel the after effects of this spanking for a while. He hugged and cuddled the little boy for a bit.

After some time had passed, Cookie said, “Boss, supper is ready, I’ll call the men.”

“Okay Cookie.”

The youngster didn’t eat much. He was too nervous. His father made him eat a bit more and when the little boy flat out refused to eat anymore decided he needed to get things taken care of. Ben went to Cookie. “Cookie, I need to borrow one of your large wooden spoons. I promise if I break it I’ll replace it.”

Cookie quirked an eyebrow. “I would hope you wouldn’t spank the little tyke so hard with it that it would break.”

The elder Cartwright had the grace to flush. The man knew his purpose for asking for it. “Don’t worry Cookie I won’t. It will be just enough so he won’t want to sit for a while.”

The man armed with the wooden spoon strode over to Nicky. “Okay son, let’s get you your bath. Then we’ll take care of our little necessary talk. After that you will be going to sleep.”

“Yes Papa.” Sparky said in a small voice, as Ben took him by the hand. 

 

Chapter 15

 

Ben led the child down the nearby stream to a pool he had seen earlier. It was far away from the camp that they would have a little bit of privacy. The little tyke’s cries might be heard in the night, but at least it wouldn’t be in full view of the whole camp. 

Adam watched as his father led the littlest Cartwright out of the camp and shook his head. He didn’t want to be in his little brother’s shoes right now. It was good though that Pa got this out of the way. Then Sparky could relax and he could work with him on some school work and all would be right with the family. 

When Ben got to the pool of water he helped the little mite to get undressed. “The water will be cold Sparky, but I want you to wash good okay?”

“Yes Papa.”  
The man helped the child into the pool and handed him the cake of soap.

The youngster rubbed it on the piece of toweling his Papa had handed him and began to wash. His father watched him and instructed him to wash in certain places. He took the cloth from the boy at one point and made sure he washed in all the intimate areas well. Then he dunked him under the water to rinse. Ben soaped up the youngster’s hair and again dunked him. When he was satisfied that the child was as clean as he could be he helped him out of the pool and toweled him dry. He helped him into his nightshirt and then stood the little boy in front of him while he sat on a log.  
“Nicholas, do you know why you are getting this spanking?”

“Because I had a tantrum in school, bit miss Jones, rode off fast on Blaze, rode alone and ended up here where I wasn’t supposed to be.”

“Yes, that is exactly right. I am only allowing you to ride Blaze when it is necessary during this trip. You will not be riding him for pleasure. You will continue to ride in the chuck wagon. Because of all the things you did I am going to give you a spanking the likes of which I have never given you before young man. I want you to learn that running away is not the answer to being upset. I also want you to learn that just because you aren’t happy with something that you can just throw a tantrum and get your way. I also don’t *ever* want you to bite your teacher or anyone else who is attempting to discipline you when you deserve it. You already know that galloping on your pony and riding long distances alone are against the rules. leaving your family without telling them where you are is very upsetting. You won’t be doing that again I don’t believe for a very long time by the time I am through.”

The child listened to his long list of transgressions. “Yes Papa.” Sparky said nervously. 

“I’m going to spank you with my hand and then finish it off with the wooden spoon. You are going to have a pretty sore backside for a while.”

“No Papa! Please! Don’t do that” Sparky cried placing his little hands on his bottom in an attempt to protect it from the spanking his father had outlined for him. 

“I’m sorry Nicky, you don’t get a say about how I choose to discipline you for your misbehavior.”

The man then picked up the little boy, adjusted him across his knees, flipped up his nightshirt and proceeded to redden his behind with his hand.

Sparky wailed and begged from the very beginning because his Papa was spanking him hard. When Ben thought he had spanked that backside enough with his hand he paused and picking up the wooden spoon brought it down hard on the little bottom enough times to get the point across to his little son. 

Sparky howled his misery while his father tanned his little behind. 

By the time the man was through his son’s bottom was on fire and it hurt. 

Ben flipped the nightshirt down and just the action of it hitting the little boy’s backside made him yelp and new tears flowed. 

The man righted his son and holding him close comforted him. He had hated to do that and had dashed away tears from his own eyes. 

“I-I’m s-sorry P- Papa.” Sparky stuttered through his tears. 

“I know you are baby. You learned a very hard lesson, but I’m sure you won’t make these mistakes again. “

“No Papa. I won’t do them again.”

The elder Cartwright knew the child would at least never bite his teacher or anyone else again, the rest… well it would remain to be seen. After all his child was a boy and a Cartwright as well. 

Once Sparky fell asleep in his father’s arms exhausted from his painful correction Ben brought the child back to camp. 

Adam seeing his father bringing the little guy back went up to him. Is he all right Pa?”

“Yes son. I didn’t kill him off you know.”

The boy grinned. “Just one part of him?”

“Yes.” He handed the sleeping child to his oldest son. “Adam, I’m going to take the first watch. I won’t be able to sleep after this, so if you could get some sleep and keep him with you…”

“Of course, Pa. I’ll take him.” He took Sparky from Ben’s arms. He walked over to their bed rolls and wrapped his little brother in a blanket. He felt the heat emanating from his little behind and taking a peek saw how red it was. Whew! Sparky sure wasn’t going to be able to sit down for a while. Adam tucked the little tyke close to him and they both slept. 

Ben returned the wooden spoon to Cookie who examined it for cracks or chips.

“It’s intact”

“Yeah, I see that. How about the little boy it was used on?”

“He’s sore, but intact too.”

The old man smiled then and put his wooden spoon away. 

The elder Cartwright strode to the remuda and selecting a horse rode off to the herd. 

When Ben woke Adam he asked, “Did Sparky stay asleep?”

“Yes Pa. He hasn’t stirred.”

“Good.” 

The man crawled into the bedroll next to his child. He could still feel the heat emanating through the blanket from his behind. Ben felt a little bad, but reminded himself that it had been necessary this time. The little boy had to understand how concerning his behavior had been. Being on this drive was dangerous for a child. He added an extra worry to him every time they faced a challenging situation. 

When Sparky awoke in the early dawn, he stretched and let out a groan.

“Are you all right son?”

“Papa! My backside is still hot.”

“I know. Let me help you up and we’ll take care of your personal business. The man helped his son. 

The little boy got up with a groan and walked stiffly over to the bushes. He rubbed at the fire that still burned on his backside, but took care of business. His father helped him back to the bed roll and tucked him in close to him, falling back to sleep.

When morning woke them, Ben helped Sparky to dress in his new clothes. He yelped when his Papa pulled up his under drawers and jeans. “Papa! My backside! That hurts!”

“I know it does Sparky, but you can’t ride in the chuck wagon in just your nightshirt.”

“Can I have a pillow or cushion to sit on Papa?”

“I’m sorry Sweet pea, there aren’t any. We don’t use pillows or cushions on the trail.”

The little boy let big tears fall down his little face and his father wiped them away with a clean handkerchief. “You’re just going to have to tough it out baby.”

“Yes Papa.” Sparky again rubbed his tender backside.

Ben asked, “Do you want me to carry you to the chuck wagon or do you want to walk?”

“Carry me Papa. It hurts to walk.”

The man picked up the little mite and carried him over to the chuck wagon. He set him on his feet and turned to Cookie. “I think Sparky here will want to stand to eat his breakfast this morning.”

“Okay Boss. I’ll fix him right up.” Cookie place Sparky’s plate of food in front of him on the chuck wagon tailgate. It was at the right height for the youngster to eat standing. 

Adam came striding into the camp and seeing his little brother standing at the chuck wagon tailgate eating his breakfast walked over. “Hi Sweet Pea.”

“Hi Adam.”

“Can I join you?”

“Yes. That is if you want to stand!”

“No, I think I’ll sit. I’m tired.”

The little boy looked up at his older brother to see if he was teasing him, but saw sympathy and a tired look in his eyes. 

Sparky ate some of his breakfast, but kept rubbing his behind because it ached and finally just put down his fork and cried. 

The older boy put down his breakfast and scooped the little mite into his arms. Being careful of his sore bottom he cuddled him and said, “Hey there Sweet Pea. You’re feeling pretty miserable, aren’t you?”

“Yes.” The little boy sniffed. “Papa says there aren’t any pillows or cushions for me to sit on either.”

“Well Sweet Pea, I’m afraid Pa’s right. It’ll only hurt for a while and you’ll be back to your normal self.”

“How do you know Adam?”

“Little one, I’ve been in your position before… in fact many times. I know about how long it will be before your behind will feel like getting sat on again. When Pa tans us with his belt we can’t’ sit down for several days, at least three and once or twice for a whole week.”

“Really?”

“Really. I know you feel miserable right now, but I promise it’ll get better. You just stay out of trouble okay?”

“Okay.” 

Adam gave the little boy another big hug, dried his tears and blew his nose. “I got to go help Pa now. You take a nap in the back of the chuck wagon okay?”

“Okay” Sparky gave his big brother his small shy smile and the older boy felt good knowing his little brother loved him. 

Sparky felt miserable over the next couple of days. He couldn’t sit or lie on his back. The only comfortable position was lying on his tummy in the back of the chuck wagon. He couldn’t even ride up with Cookie because his bottom hurt. Ben and Adam showed the little one every day they still loved him and ate with him and encouraged him through it all. 

<<<<>>>>

They were approaching another water crossing. This one was more difficult than the last one and Ben was again concerned for his child’s safety.  
“Sparky, come over here son.”

“Yes Papa?”

“I want you to tell me if your bottom still hurts a lot and I want the truth.”

“No Papa, it aches a little, but I can sit now without my backside hurting too much.”

“okay. I’m going to have to have you ride Blaze across the water again. I wanted to make sure you would have a good seat. I don’t want you to be too sore and not be able to sit solidly in the saddle.”

“I’ll be okay Papa. Will Blaze have to swim again?”

“Probably. The water here is deeper than the last river we crossed.”

The child chewed his fingers and his Papa reassured him. “Sparky, Blaze likes to swim. He’s a strong swimmer remember? If he wasn’t he wouldn’t have been able to save you that time we all ended up in the stream.”

“Yes Papa.”

Ben gave the little boy a big hug. “You can do it Sparky. You did just fine the last time. You just have to follow Papa’s instructions all right?”

“Yes, give him his head and don’t get off my saddle. When he gets to where he can climb out of the water he will.”

“That’s exactly right. What else are you to do?”

“If I end up separated from everyone else I’m to stay put until either you or Adam come to get me.”

“Right.” The man again gave the little mite a big hug. “I’ll let you know when we’re ready. Remember, if you end up with Cookie like last time he’ll take you off Blaze and you’re to stay with him understand?”

“Yes Papa.”

“Good boy. Ben gave the child a reassuring hug. 

 

Chapter 16 

 

Ben again watched as the chuck wagon rolled into the water. The wagon began to float as it hit mid river and the horses had to swim a bit, but the wagon didn’t drag the team and after a scary moment the wagon it solid ground as the animals found their footing and pulled it up the other side. 

The elder Cartwright again led his young son’s pony to the edge of the river. “Sweet Pea, remember what I told you. Hang on, don’t panic if the water comes up higher this time okay?”

“Yes Papa.” Blaze entered the water and Ben, Adam and the others watched as the little mite began their crossing. Sparky had won the hearts of all the men now and all were concerned about the child. As the pony went deeper into the river the water came up higher and higher. Just before the drop off in the water where Blaze would have to swim the little animal slipped and almost fell. Sparky gasped as the water soaked him up to his waist, but hung on and stayed in the saddle as his father had told him to and tried not to be scared. His little heart pounded though and he tried to re-adjust himself in the saddle. The saddle slipped a little and the little boy froze, just sitting still and letting his little pony swim. The current was swifter and Blaze was pushed down river. The boy’s father watched with his heart in his mouth. He prayed the little mite didn’t come off his pony. When he saw Blaze finally scramble up on the other sighed he thanked the Lord and breathed easier. He saw the child sitting on his pony and standing there not moving and was proud of him for following his instructions. 

<<<<>>>>

Sparky breathed easier as he felt his pony find his footing and make his way up the bank. He saw Cookie and the wagon, but knew he should stay put until Papa or Adam came to get him. His saddle was slightly askew and he dared not move around too much for fear it would slip and dump him onto the ground. 

<<<<>>>>

“Adam, you supervise the crossing. I’m going to take the lead. Once we are across completely I’ll retrieve Sparky.”

“Okay Pa.”

Ben crossed the river with one of the men herding the cattle. The steers bawled and balked at the water’s edge and he had a difficult time getting them to cross. Once they started into the water, several of the cattle began to float and were swept away by the current. When the steers were able to scramble up onto the bank downstream and found themselves on solid ground, they lowed mournfully. 

Ben swore under his breath. He didn’t want to have to chase steers all over the place before they could move on, but it looked like that was exactly what was going to happen. He and the hand riding point worked at herding the steers across the river, but more kept floating down stream. Several drowned and when all was done they had lost about ten head. He knew that they would lose some cattle during the drive, but still hated that it happened. 

<<<<>>>>

Sparky was getting tired of sitting on Blaze. His backside was beginning to ache now and he tried to shift carefully in the saddle. He saw some of Papa’s cattle climb up on the bank and thought about herding them like his father had told him Adam did and like he had seen the hands do the last time they had crossed the river. ‘If he rode circles around them they’d stay, together wouldn’t they? Papa would like that wouldn’t he? He wouldn’t get into any trouble… He was staying in the area he was told to wasn’t he?  
The little boy kicked Blaze and guided him in a circle around the dozen or so steers that had scrambled onto the bank. He remembered Papa told him that when Adam did this he sang or hummed to the steers so they wouldn’t be scared. He began to sing softly the one song he knew well. His oldest brother had taught him the words to Oh Suzanna on one of their camping trips. He began in his clear high little boy voice softly…’Oh I come from Alabama with a banjo on my knee…’

<<<<>>>>

Ben and Adam were busy with the cattle and hadn’t thought about the little one until finally the herd had settled down and had begun to graze. 

“Oh my gosh!” Ben shot a look at Adam, “I forgot all about Sparky!”

“You go get the little mite Boss. We’ll take care of things here.” One of the Ponderosa hands said. The man looking downstream, had a funny look on his face and Ben wondered what that was about. 

When he glanced downstream and saw the little boy riding his pony around about a dozen or so steers he didn’t know what to think. At first, he was astonished, then his face darkened. ‘Just what did the youngster think he was doing with those steers’!? 

The man kept himself in control. He didn’t want to startle either the child or those steers. He signaled to Jack, one of the Ponderosa hands and the man seeing the littlest Cartwright riding around those dozen or so steers grinned broadly. “I’ll be damned! The little guy is herding them dang steers!”

“Yes, and that’s a very dangerous thing for that little boy to be doing!”

“Aw Boss, don’t be so hard on the little tyke. He’s actually being a big help keeping them steers like that. Besides what did ya expect leaving him there all by himself for all this time. Ya know the little one don’t stay still for long. He did stay where he came up on the river bank like ya told him to.”

The Cartwright patriarch knew what Jack had said was true. Sparky hadn’t exactly disobeyed him. He had just taken on a task that he had no idea could be dangerous. As they rode closer they slowed their mounts to a walk. Ben heard the soft treble of his youngest son’s voice singing softly… “Oh Suzanna don’t you cry for me, ‘cause I come from Alabama with a banjo on my knee…”as they approached. Sparky looked up at the men and put his finger to his lips in a shushing motion. 

The youngster’s father couldn’t help himself and grinned. The grin faded a bit though as he got closer and saw the little boy’s saddle a bit askew on his mount. 

“Papa.” Sparky called softly. “I put the steers to sleep like you told me Adam did at night!”

“I see you did son.” The man said dryly. “Jack and me are going to wake them up and bring them to their friends so they can be with the rest of the herd. Before we do that however young man, your saddle needs to be fixed.”

Ben reached out and plucked the little boy off his Pony. Handing the child to Jack he dismounted and dropped Buck’s reins. Ben then walked over to Blaze loosened the cinch, re adjusted the still wet blanket, along with the saddle and then re-tightened the cinch. Then he took his son, still pretty damp from the waist down, from the ranch hand and plopped him atop his pony. “That’s better and a lot more comfortable for both you and Blaze.”

“Thank you, Papa.”

“Now Nicky, I want you to listen to me very carefully. Jack and Me are going to begin to move these steers toward the other herd. You are to stay a little ways in back of us. *Do not* under any circumstances ride up with us or try to get ahead. If you even look like you are thinking about trying that little boy I promise I’ll take a switch to you do you understand?”

“Yes Papa. I’ll do as you say.”

The two men then began to herd the steers. They went along docilly enough and Ben breathed a sigh of relief when they joined the rest of the herd. 

“Hey Boss! Since when did ya hire a midget for a hand?!” One of the men called out teasingly. All the men laughed at that. 

Sparky looked a little confused and hurt.

“Well let me tell you, if I had enough hands like my son here I’d fire the lot of you!” Ben called back laughing and the men all laughed again. 

“At least my son knows how to take orders and doesn’t give me any backtalk!”

The men all laughed again.

“Yeah Boss, but you’d have a very sore right arm paddling them all when they did mess up!”

Everyone laughed again and Sparky blushed knowing they were talking about the necessary talk Pa had had with him a few days ago. 

Ben turned and rode up to the little mite and scooping him up off his saddle hugged him tight, giving him a big grin. Then he put the boy back on his pony and told him to go ride up to the chuck wagon, where Adam and Cookie were so he could get into some dry clothes and Blaze could be taken care of properly. 

 

Chapter 17

 

Cookie and Adam saw the littlest Cartwright heading their way and had big grins on their faces. When Sparky reined in the older boy reached up and the youngster went into his big brother’s arms.  
“Little one, you’re still pretty wet. Let me get you some dry clothes and help you to change.” Adam set Sparky on the tail gate and retrieved the clothes Pa had washed and helped his little brother into dry drawers, jeans, socks and shirt.  
“There, that’ll feel better.” The older boy gave his little brother a hug.

“Thanks, it does feel better.” The little mite grinned up at Adam. 

Cookie took the pony and untacked him, placing the little saddle on the tail gate of the chuckwagon and hung the blanket to dry out. The old man then tethered Blaze to a nearby bush. 

The oldest Cartwright boy cuddled his little brother in his arms and said, “I missed you Sweet Pea!”

“Adam, I put the steers to sleep like Papa told me you did at night.”

The older boy raised an eyebrow, sitting the littlest Cartwright on the tailgate of the chuckwagon. “What steers Sparky?”

“The ones that came across the river and up to me and Blaze.”

“What did you do to put them to sleep?”

“I rode a big circle around them and sang Oh Suzanna real soft.”

Adam grinned, then adopted a serious face and looking into those big grey eyes scolded, Sparky, you sure are something little boy. Did you know that those steers could have charged at you and Blaze and hurt you?”

“Huh? Why would they do that?”

“Because steers don’t always act like you would expect them to. Doing that to those steers was very dangerous little boy.”

“Are you mad at me?”

“No. I’m not, but don’t you ever try anything like that with any steers ever again. You wait and let the hands, Pa or I take care of those steers. Do you hear me little brother?”

“Yes Adam.” Tears began to course down Sparky’s little face. “They might have tried to go away though.”

“They wouldn’t have gone far and we would have rounded them up and taken them back to the herd.” The older boy seeing the youngster dejected and tears falling pulled him into his arms and hugged him. 

“I’m sorry. I won’t do that again!”

“Shh… it’s okay Sparky, you didn’t know.”

Ben came up about then and seeing his son crying in Adam’s arms asked, “What’s wrong?”

“I just told Sparky that what he did with those steers was very dangerous and that he shouldn’t ever do that again.”

“Adam, that was for me to talk to him about, not you. Remember son, Sparky is your brother. I’m here and as his father, it’  
is up to me to talk to him about any wrong doing.”

The older boy flushed with embarrassment. He realized that Pa was telling him in no uncertain terms that he had overstepped his bounds in regard to his little brother. “Pa, I’m sorry. Sparky, I’m sorry too. Pa is right. I shouldn’t have been the one to scold you about what you did with the steers.”

“I forgive you Adam” Sparky flung himself into his big brother’s arms and squeezed him around the neck. 

“Me too son.”

“Thank you, Pa, Sparky.”

“Nicky, you and I are still going to have a talk about all this. I’m not going to spank you for it, but I want you to understand some things okay?”

“Yes Papa. Papa?”

“Yes, little one?”

“Are you going to give Adam a necessary talk for scolding me?”

Ben grinned then. No. scolding him was enough.”

“Okay, because I was going to ask you to not do that because He’s my big brother and only wants me to stay safe.”

The elder Cartwright grinned at the littlest Cartwright and they all got ready to eat. 

The men seeing the family grouped together had kept their distance. They knew better than to eavesdrop on Ben Cartwright and his family moments. 

<<<<>>>>

After supper Adam called his little brother to him. “Sparky, come here.”

“Yes Adam?”

“I want to work with you on some of your schoolwork.”

“Oh Adam, do I have to?”

“Yes, little one. If we don’t work on your schoolwork you will be way behind when we get back.”

“I’m not going back. I’m staying home with you, Hoss, Papa and Hop Sing.”

The older boy glanced up at his father. “Pa, Sparky says he’s not going back to school.”

Ben strode over and hunkered down in front of the little boy. “Son, when we get back home you will be going back to school. You will also be apologizing to Miss Jones for biting her. If there are any tantrums about this we will be having a very necessary talk. Is that perfectly clear?”

The child looked down at his shoes.

“Look at me Nicholas.”  
The youngster’s large grey eyes met Ben’s dark brown ones. “Yes Papa.”

“Good boy. Now you do your schoolwork with Adam.”

“Yes Papa.”

The older boy got a piece of foolscap and digging up a pencil out of his saddle bag wrote a list of ten words

Steer  
Grass  
fence  
Horse  
Wagon  
Wheel  
Night  
Light  
Steam  
Spark

He handed the list to the little one. “These are words I want you to learn how to spell.”

“Adam, how come my name is on the bottom?”

“That’s not your name, it’s part of your name. We will also be learning what each of these words mean.  
We’ll find out what each word means first and then we’ll learn how to spell them. 

“Why do we need to know what the words are before we can spell them?”

“So, it’s easier to learn how to spell them.”

“Oh.”

“What is this first word?”

“Steer”

“What does it mean do you think?”

“A cow?”

“Not exactly, it’s a cow of the male gender that’s been castrated. You know we castrate the male cows on the ranch, don’t you?” 

The little boy nodded “Yes.”

“So, it means it’s a boy cow. It has horns. It also means to guide. Like when Pa steers the wagon around things in the yard, on the road or in town.” Adam told the youngster. 

“How do you know when it means a steer and when it means guiding?”

“By how it is used in a sentence. If I say, “I pulled a steer out of the mud. You would know I’m talking about a boy cow. If I say, I had to steer the wagon around a big hole in the road. You know I’m talking about guiding the wagon.” The older boy explained. 

“Yes, Adam. I understand.”

They continued to work on the spelling and vocabulary lesson. 

Again, unbeknownst to Adam he was teaching several men around the fire as well. When he finished Sparky could spell each of the words perfectly and tell him their meanings. Adam hugged the little one and praised him for a job well done.  
“Sparky, I think it’s time you went to sleep now Sweet Pea.”

The little boy yawned. “Okay.”

Ben watching Adam teach Sparky and the men who sat around listening to their school lessons grinned to himself. He would have a bunch of educated hands at the end of this drive, something none of the men had ever bargained for. Those men who learned in this fashion would also have their dignity intact as they were learning without anyone knowing they didn’t know the things that his oldest son was teaching his little brother. 

“Nicky, before I put you to sleep young man you and I still need to have a little talk about you and the steers.” The child’s father said. 

The little boy looked down at his shoes. “Yes Papa.”

“Son, look at me.”

The child met his father’s dark brown eyes with his large grey ones.

“That’s better. Sweet Pea what you did today could have been dangerous. steers are very unpredictable animals. Sometimes they will respond to you like they did today, but other times they might have gotten ornery and you could have gotten hurt. Until you are older and learn how to handle the steers you are not to do anything with them. Even if they start to wander away, let them. Someone will come for them and bring them back to the herd okay?”

“Yes Papa. I just wanted to help.”

“I know you wanted to and you did help quite a bit. I just don’t want you putting yourself in danger. If you continue to do that Nicholas, I’ll have to get very harsh with your punishment and I don’t want to have to do that do you understand?”

“Yes Papa. I’ll be good.”

”You’re always good, you don’t always make the best choices though. Now, let’s get you ready for bed okay?”

“Okay.”

The older man gave the little mite a big hug and Sparky returned it.  
“Well, let me take you to take care of your business and we’ll wrap up in our blankets. Then we’ll get comfortable by the fire and sleep for a while okay?”

“Yes Papa.” The little boy stretched and yawned. Then he rubbed his behind. 

“Your Backside hurt?”

“It still aches some Papa. Riding Blaze around those steers made me sore I think.”

Ben grinned at the child using the term “Steers” instead of calling them cows. “Well, I’ll see if I can get some liniment from Cookie and rub it in for you.”

“It’s okay Papa. Some of my bottom hurting is from our necessary talk too.”

The boy’s Papa shook his head. Okay little one. Let’s go take care of your business.” Ben walked with his small son over to some bushes and when the child was through he got him into his nightshirt, tucking him into his bedroll for the night. 

 

Chapter 18

 

The next several days were uneventful. Sparky rode in the chuck wagon with Cookie doing schoolwork that Adam had given him. 

Ben knew they were getting close to Sacramento and planned to skirt around the city. They would cross the river at another ford and head toward San Francisco. 

“We’re making good time aren’t we Pa?”

“Yes Adam, we are and we’ve been pretty lucky with the weather holding and all. 

“Sparky’s holding up pretty well too isn’t he Pa?”

“Yes son, he is. I’m a bit worried about when we get back though. Little Joe is going to feel slighted because his little brother got to go on the cattle drive when he didn’t.”

“Maybe Pa, but Sparky hasn’t really had much fun on this drive. He was pretty sore for the first week between his ride and your punishing him. Then he has to ride in the chuck wagon with schoolwork to do and having to go over it with me every night. I don’t think Little Joe would think of that as much fun. He’d want to be riding with us, roping the cattle, you know, in the thick of things, not riding in the chuck wagon the whole way, being sore, and having to do schoolwork to boot.”

The older man smiled. He knew his son was right. When Little Joe found out his little brother had not had the fun he envisioned him having he’d be glad it hadn’t been him. 

When they got to the river crossing Ben was a bit worried. This was always the hardest one. He had lost cattle in the rushing water before and once had lost the chuck wagon too. The water ran swiftly and seemed a bit high. He was glad however that there hadn’t been much in the way of rain so the river wasn’t swollen with water coming down from the mountains, but still…

“It’ll be all right I think Pa.”

The man turned to see his oldest son at his side. He hadn’t heard the boy come up on him because of the noise of the rushing water. “I’m sure we’ll lose some cattle at this crossing too Adam. I’m also worried about Blaze making this crossing. I’m tempted to ride Sparky across the water myself.”

The young man again watched the swiftly running river with its currents and swirling eddies. He understood his father’s concern for the littlest Cartwright. Blaze may need to swim most of the way across. The little pony was strong, but with a saddle and a little boy atop… it would make it more difficult. 

“Maybe either you or I should ride Sparky across this time.”

Ben looked across the swiftly flowing water again. The river wouldn’t be that deep for their horses, it might come up to the saddle and they might get a little wet, but there would be no way the little pony could walk across. Their last two crossings had been short and Blaze didn’t have to swim for very long, but this one… it was different.

“I’ll take him with me.” Ben said decisively.

“Okay Pa, do you want to go across first this time again?”

“No, you go. If I have to ride Sparky across I want to do that at the very last. I think he’ll get into less trouble that way. I can ride him up to Cookie and then re-join the herd quickly enough.”

“Sounds like a good idea Pa.”

“Yes, I think it’ll be safer.”

<<<<>>>>

Sparky looked at the wide river in front of them. He wondered how Blaze would get across. It was deep too. He heard Cookie say this was the deepest and most dangerous of all their crossings. He chewed on his fingers.

Ben rode up and seeing his child chewing on his fingers called to him.  
“Sparky, come here to Papa and please take your fingers out of your mouth.”

The little boy ran to his Papa and Ben picked him up.  
“What’s the matter baby?”

“How is Blaze going to get across the river Papa? It’s bigger than the other ones.”

“I’m going to let him swim across on his own.”

“What do you mean Papa?”

“You won’t be riding him across this time. His saddle will be in the chuck wagon and you will ride with me. Blaze will swim across by himself.”

“No Papa! I want to be with Blaze!”

Ben eyed the child. “Nicholas, do not plan on having a tantrum about this little boy! You will be doing as I say or we will be having a very necessary talk about your listening to your Papa! Is that perfectly clear?”

Tears began to slide down the little boy’s face. “Yes Papa. But Papa what if something happens to Blaze?”

“Sweet Pea, nothing is going to happen to him. His safety is what I’m concerned about as well as yours young man. He can swim longer and faster without his saddle blanket, saddle and you on top of him. Without the extra weight, he’ll do just fine.”

“won’t my extra weight make Buck slower?”

“A little, but Buck is tall enough that he won’t have to swim across, he can walk. It won’t matter to him.”

The child still looked like he wanted to protest and his father said in a warning tone… “Nicholas…”

The youngster gave in, not wanting to get a necessary talk. “Yes Papa.”

“Good boy.” Ben smiled at his young son then, hugging him and patting his bottom. “You go now and stay by Cookie. Once I send Cookie an Blaze across you are to stay where I put you until I’m ready to take you across okay?”

“Yes Papa.”

Once everything was organized for the crossing Ben sent Cookie with the chuck wagon across first. The horses strained against the current and the wagon began to slide sideways. The elder Cartwright held his breath and then the horses gained enough momentum to make the wagon straighten out and pulled it safely up the other side. Ben then led Blaze by his halter to the edge of the water. He removed the halter so nothing would get hung up unexpectedly and giving him a hard slap on the rump sent the little pony into the water. He moved along and then began to swim. The current pushed Blaze down river, but he swam swift and strong. When he scrambled up onto the other side he shook and then promptly rolled in the grass. 

Sparky watched as his beloved pony made it across and smiled when he saw him rolling in the grass. “Papa! He made it okay!”

The older man smiled at his young son. “Yes baby, he certainly did.”

Sparky gave his father such a look when he used the term “baby” that Ben just had to laugh. He tousled the little mite’s hair and then led the boy by the hand to a grove of trees a distance away from both the river and the cattle. “Nicholas, I want you to sit here on the grass and not move. Don’t wander off, don’t go by the edge of the water and definitely don’t go near the cattle. I’m telling you now little boy that you had better be right here when I come for you. If I have to search for you you and I will be having another session with the wooden spoon and I will be getting directly to the seat of the problem. Do you understand?”

The little boy’s hands flew to his bottom to protect it. “Yes Papa. I’ll do as you say.”  
“Very good. I have to go help the men with the cattle now. You stay put.”

“Yes Papa.”

The littlest Cartwright watched as his father walked over to Buck and mounted up, then turned and headed back to help the men get the cattle across. 

The child sat on the grass and watched as the men herded the cattle into the river. The steers bellowed and bawled making a lot of noise. The one at the front balked at the water’s edge. The men worked at getting them to enter the river. Once they could get the ones in front to go in the rest would follow. 

Adam and Jack herded the first of the steers across. Once they got them contained and settled with the newest ones joining the herd Adam signaled to Jack he was going down river to collect Blaze.  
Jack acknowledged this and the boy left for the few minutes it would take to secure the pony. As Adam approached Blaze he spun his lariat over his head and letting go roped the pony neatly. The young man gently pulled in the rope and then led the little pony over to the chuckwagon. “Cookie, would you please take care of Blaze for me? Pa has his halter, so you can just tie him with the rope until later.” 

The old man smiled at the young man being so concerned about his little brother’s pony. “Don’t worry Adam, I’ll take good care of the little animal.” Cookie took the rope from Adam’s hand and secured the pony to a bush near the chuck wagon. The man knew when the little boy got there he would be very happy to see his little pony waiting there for him. 

The older boy left then with a wave of his  
Hat to rejoin Jack and the others in securing the herd.

Getting the cattle across took a very long time. Sparky was getting bored. He stood up and stretched. He wanted to see Papa and the men help the steers to cross the river. He saw Adam cross on sport and the other men too. He couldn’t really see that well and considered getting  
closer, but his Papa’s warning words rang in his head and his backside tingled. He decided he had better stay put. He grew tired and laid down on the grass and promptly fell asleep. 

<<<<>>>>

Once there were just a few cattle left to herd into the river Ben glanced over to where he had left his child. He couldn’t see him and swore under his breath. He rode Buck up to the spot where he left Sparky and then realized why he hadn’t been able to see the little boy. He had laid down in the grass and was sound asleep. The man dismounted and scooping up his sleeping little son placed him on Buck and turning his mount adjusted the youngster and headed into the river. Ben herded the last few steers and held his baby son in his arms so he wouldn’t get wet when the water began to rise. Once he got to the other side he rode up to Cookie who took the sleeping child from his Boss and laid him in the wagon.

<<<<>>>>

When Sparky awoke and saw the roof over his head he panicked because he found himself somewhere he knew he wasn’t supposed to be. He jumped up suddenly and then realized he was inside the chuck wagon and breathed a sigh of relief. Crawling out of the wagon he saw Cookie by the cook fire. 

The old man seeing the little boy crawling out of the wagon called, “Well sleepy head, ya finally decided to wake up?”

“I guess so. Where’s Papa? Am I in trouble?”

“Ya Papa is with the steers and no, yar not in any trouble. Ya Papa found ya just where he put ya, but ya had fallen asleep.”

“Yes, I remember now. I was getting bored. It was a very long time and Papa hadn’t come for me.”

“Well, ya can help old Cookie okay?”

“Yes Mr. Cookie.”

“Child, ya don’t have ta call me Mr. Cookie, Cookie is just fine.”

“No, Papa wouldn’t like that. He says it’s not respectful to call adults by their name.”

Cookie shook his head then. The Boss sure taught his children well. 

 

Chapter 19

 

Sparky helped Cookie with the preparations for the meal and they got along well together.

Ben glanced over toward the chuck wagon and saw his child helping and smiled. The little boy sure was a wonder. He still was glad the little mite was with him. He would have missed all this time with his small son and he liked that he could spend this time with the little tyke. 

That night Adam worked with Sparky on some Geography. He tried to get Sparky to name the rivers they had crossed, but he was having trouble with this. The older boy tried to draw a map on the ground, but his little brother was having none of it. 

“Adam, I don’t want to do this anymore!”

“Sparky, it’s important that you at least learn the names of the rivers we have crossed.”

“No! I don’t want to!”

The older boy sighed. His little brother was getting close to having a tantrum and he would like to avoid that if he could. He tried another tact and Sparky dug in his heels and got more stubborn. Finally, the child shouted, “Adam! I don’t want to do this anymore and I’m not going to!”

The young man picked up the little mite and plopped him into his father’s lap annoyed. “Pa, you see if you can do something with him. He refuses to be cooperative!”

Ben sighed. “Nicky, what’s the matter. Why are you acting this way?”

“Adam is forcing me to do something I don’t want to do!”

“What’s wrong with learning the names of three rivers before you go to bed.”

The little boy pouted. “’Cause I don’t want to.” 

“Well young man, I’ll tell you what. You will learn the names of the three rivers Adam wants to teach you. If you continue to be stubborn about it I’ll let him give you three smacks on your behind and then you’ll still have to learn the names of the rivers.”

“That’s not fair!”

“Nicholas, you’re not being fair. Your brother has worked hard all day and is good enough to take some time to teach you things when he could be doing something else.”

“Then let him go do something else and leave me alone!”

The elder Cartwright exasperated called to his oldest son,  
“Adam come here please!”

The young man strode over to his father who was still holding his little brother. The child had a mulish expression on his face.

“You have permission to smack this little boy’s bottom three times if he continues to be stubborn about learning the names of those three rivers. Then he will learn them. If he still is stubborn you have my permission to deal with him as you see fit.”

The young man raised an eyebrow. It was not like his father to give him free rein with Sparky. He must be really tired and not wanting to deal with his little brother’s stubbornness tonight. “Yes Sir.”  
The older boy bent down and picked up his little brother. “Okay Sparky, let’s see if you can learn the names of these rivers.”  
Adam wrote the names of the rivers on a piece of foolscap. He wrote Merced, Truckee and Sacramento. ”Nicky, these are the names of the three rivers we have crossed. Lake Tahoe which is on the Ponderosa lies between the Mokelumne and Merced rivers. The Mercedis the first river we crossed, the Truckee was the second and the Sacramento is the one we crossed today.”

The little boy still had a mulish look on his face. He wasn’t paying attention and his older brother sighed. “Sparky, have you listened to anything I’ve said?”

“No! I told you I didn’t want to do this!”

Adam flipped the little boy over his knee and gave him three very hard swats.

“Ow! Sparky began to cry from the very first swat. When the older boy was through he sat the youngster next to him and asked, “Sparky, are you going to pay attention or am I going to have to find a private place to conduct a very necessary talk?”

The little boy squirmed on the log his older brother had sat him on. His backside stung from Adam’s swats. 

“Okay, I’ll behave.”

“Good.”

The child learned the names of the rivers and their locations. He squirmed from time to time on the log as his little behind was aching a bit from the swats Adam had given him. When the lesson was over the older boy gave the little mite a big hug and held him in his lap.

“Now Sparky, that wasn’t so bad, was it?”

“No. You swat hard Adam.”

“You deserved that.”

The little boy ducked his head. “Yes Adam” Sparky said softly. 

“You’re forgiven, but I won’t tolerate your stubbornness when it comes to your schoolwork. Pa has said I may deal with you as I see fit and so little boy if it’s warranted a hard hand across your behind is what you can expect each time you get stubborn about your schoolwork. 

“Yes Adam.”

The older brother again hugged his little brother and then tickled him unmercifully. 

Ben watched his oldest and youngest son together and smiled contentedly. Adam would be an excellent father one day. He got up then and went over to the two. He had to put the child to sleep before Sparky became even more cranky than he had been this evening. 

<<<<>>>>>>>

As they approached San Francisco everyone was very glad to see the end of their trip. 

“Papa?”

“Yes Sparky?”

Look at all the buildings and streets! There’s more streets than in Virginia City!”

“Yes, little one, there are.”

“Papa what will we do now?”

“We’ll drive the cattle to the stock pens. Then Papa will meet with the man who buys them and once they are sold Papa will pay the men. The men will do what they want to do then. Some will come back to the Ponderosa and others may stay here and go on to other places.”

“What will Mr. Cookie do?”

“He’ll drive the chuck wagon back to the Ponderosa.”

“What will we do? Will I ride back to the Ponderosa in the chuck wagon like when we came here?”

“No, Cookie will take the wagon back. Adam, you and me will ride our horses back home.”

“Do you mean I will ride Blaze all the way home?”

“Yes.”

“Won’t that be a long ride for blaze?”

“Not really. After all he walked all the way here.”

“but Papa, not with me on top of him.”  
“Well, we’ll be taking it in stages because you little boy aren’t exactly used to riding long distances.”

“No Papa, it makes my backside hurt when I ride too far at one time.”

Ben grinned. “Well, yes I’m sure it does, but there are other things I’m certain that will make your backside hurt too.”

Sparky looked at Ben puzzled, then he understood his father’s meaning and blushed red. “Papa, I don’t want to get any more necessary talks.”

“Then you do what you’re supposed to and you won’t have to worry about it.”

“Okay Papa.”

“Sparky, I’m going to leave you with Adam. You behave for him. I’m giving him permission to give you a spanking if you misbehave. Understand?”

“Yes Papa.”

Ben walked the tiny little boy over to his very tall oldest brother. “Adam, you watch over Sparky. If he gives you any trouble you have my permission to swat him.”

“Okay Pa. I think we’ll get along just fine.”

“Very good.” Ben smiled at his boys.

 

Chapter 20

 

Ben strode off to negotiate the best price he could for his Ponderosa cattle. 

“Adam?”

“Yes, Sweet Pea?

“How long will it take Papa to sell the cattle?”

“I’m not sure Sparky. Sometimes it’s a long time, sometimes it’s not very long at all.”

“What will we do until Papa comes back?”

“Stay here and wait.”  
“Adam, I’m bored waiting for Papa, I want something to do!”

The older boy sighed. Babysitting his youngest brother could be challenging at times. He glanced around to see if he could find something to do with the little tyke. If he could work in a teaching lesson…Adam thought and then seeing all the cattle around said, “Sparky, would you like to play a game with me?”

“What kind of game” Sparky asked suspiciously.  
“It’s called counting  
the cattle.”  
“That’s not a game, it’s a schoolwork lesson!”  
“Well, learning can  
be fun little brother.”  
“I don’t want to do  
schoolwork! I want to do something fun” Sparky pouted. 

Adam picked up the little mite and sat him on the fence of the pen where the Ponderosa cattle were contained. This way he and Sparky were more on an eye to eye level. 

“Look little brother, I know you’re bored waiting. It was your choice to find us and now you understand that a cattle drive isn’t as much fun as you thought it might be.”

“I didn’t think about the cattle drive being fun. I just wanted to be with you and Papa.”

“I know you did, but when we need to work it isn’t always fun and we can’t always make things fun or interesting for you.”

Sparky ducked his head feeling ashamed. “I’m sorry Adam.”

The older brother gave the little tyke a big hug. He understood a bit how the boy felt. When he and Pa had been traveling across country in the wagon train it was boring lots of times and even reading or doing schoolwork hadn’t been enough to keep his interest as much as he liked to learn. He just stood there holding the child in his arms. He was so little and didn’t hardly weigh anything at all. He really liked holding his little brother and kept him as long as Sparky would allow it. 

“Adam, I want to get down.”

“Okay, but you stay where I can see you. I don’t want you to be playing near the cattle and stay off the pens.”

“Can I ride Blaze?”

“No.”

“Why?”

“Because we’re not going anywhere yet.”

“I can ride him around here.”

“No.”

“I want to!”

Nicky, I said no!“

Sparky began to wail and stomp his feet. “I want to ride Blaze!”

Adam strode over to the little boy, picked him up and took him out behind one of the buildings.

Nicky, I didn’t want to have to do this, but you are leaving me no choice.” He flipped the little boy over his knee as he placed his foot up on a lower railing and administered six hard swats to his little brother’s behind.

“Oww! No! Please! That hurts! Owww!”

When Adam was through Sparky had tears coming down his face and his little bottom was burning. 

“Are you going to behave and stop having a tantrum when I tell you no?”

Yes Adam, I’m sorry” Sparky sniffed rubbing his stinging backside. 

The older boy then picked up the youngster and hugged him tight. “Sparky, you have to learn that when someone tells you no it’s for a good reason. When you fight us on things like this you end up being the one who loses and sporting a sore backside.”

“Are you going to tell Papa?”

“No. Not unless you continue to have a temper tantrum about being bored and my not finding something for you to do.”

“I’ll be good.”

“Okay then, let’s go back to the pen that is holding our cattle and wait for Pa.”

When they got back Sparky hunted up pebbles and he and his older brother counted the cattle and tried to guess how much their father would get for them and then how much money they would make on the sale. 

When Ben came striding back he had a big grin on his face and Adam knew they had gotten a really good price for the cattle. 

“How have things been Adam?”

“Okay, we’ve been occupying our time by trying to guess how much you would get for the cattle and then how much money we would make.”

“Well you will be happy to know we have been able to get top dollar for our beef. We will be going home substantially more wealthy than when we left.”

“How much did the man buy the cattle for” Sparky asked, looking up at his Papa.  
“We got $65 per head.”

Sparky’s eyes rounded and widened. That’s a lot of money Papa. How will we carry that much money home?”

“We won’t be carrying any of it home. We will get a bank draft and deposit the money in the bank when we get to Virginia City. I will be going over to the bank now to get cash money to pay off the men and for us to have while we are here. I’ve decided that we will spend a few days here in San Francisco and see some of the city before we head back. We’ll get a room at the Oriental Hotel. We’ll get baths, haircuts and do some shopping.”

“Papa, will I be able to ride Blaze?”

“Yes, but you will ride between Adam and me. If you don’t I’ll be riding you up in front of me and you won’t ride your Pony until we are ready to leave is that understood?”

“Yes Papa. I stay with you and Adam.”

“Very good. Now you stay here with your big brother for a while longer. Papa has to go to finish taking care of the men. Then we’ll go to the hotel and do the things we want to do. Be patient just a little while longer okay?”

“Yes Papa.”

Ben took off on Buck to take care of business.

<<<<>>>>

After the men were paid and Cookie had secured the chuck wagon at the Bevan, C. & Co. livery stable at 84 Kearny,  
Ben placing Sparky on Blaze rode off to the Oriental Hotel. 

“Papa?”

“Yes, Sweet Pea?”

“Where will Blaze stay for the night?”

“We’ll stable him with Buck and Sport in the hotel stable.”

“Will he be okay? Will he be lonely without all the other horses?”

“No Sweet Pea. Blaze will be fine because Buck and Sport will be with him.”

Adam grinned at his little brother’s concern for his pony. He really loved that little animal and that little pony certainly had a strong affection for the boy. 

Once the horses were taken care of, the elder Cartwright ordered baths for them all. 

“Papa, I don’t need a bath. I just took a bath when we cross the Sacramento River.”

“Nicky,” Ben said in a warning tone, “You need a proper bath in a tub with warm water and lots of soap.”

The little boy mumbled under his breath, “I don’t see why I have to take a bath.” His father surprised him with a sharp swat to his bottom. “Ow!”

“Don’t sulk and don’t mumble under your breath little boy, that is bordering on disrespect and you know how I feel about that.”

Sparky sighed, rubbing the stinging spot on his bottom. “Yes Papa.”

Ben supervised Sparky’s bath and then Adam bathed. Once the little boy was clean and dressed in fresh clothes he took his bath while his oldest son kept an eye on the little one. 

“Sparky, why don’t you lie on the bed for a while. When Pa is done with his bath I think we’ll go for our haircuts and then dinner. I’m not sure what Pa has in store for us after that.”

“I don’t want a haircut!”

Adam sighed. He picked up his little brother and sat him in his lap. “Sparky, it’s been a long and tiring day after a long and tiring trip. I advise you to not throw a tantrum about now. Pa is close to being at the end of his rope with you and so am I. If you don’t want a very necessary talk from our father then I suggest you change your attitude. You need a haircut. We all do. Just let Pa do what he wants you to do and things will go fine. If you begin to get stubborn and act naughty I don’t guarantee what he will do, but I do know you won’t like it.”

The child knew his brother was right. Pa had surprised him earlier with a sharp swat and he certainly didn’t want a necessary talk. He lay down on the bed like his big brother had suggested and promptly fell asleep. 

Adam glanced down at the little boy and smiled to himself. His brother certainly had needed a nap. 

 

Chapter 21

 

When Ben returned to the room and saw the littlest Cartwright sound asleep he smiled. “All tuckered out, is he?”

“Yes. I think he’s been needing a nap for quite some time today.”

“Having temper tantrums?”

“One, but I nipped it in the bud.”

“Well, if we want to get haircuts and some dinner we’ll have to wake him.”

“Okay.”  
Adam sat on the bed next to the little boy and shook him gently. “Sparky, come on Sweet Pea, it’s time to wake up.”

The child opened his eyes. “Time to go?”

“Yes. It’s time for us to go for our haircuts and then we’ll get dinner. Looks like it’ll be an early night for you little one.”

“Oh Adam, I’m not tired now!”

Ben grinned. “Okay, let’s get spruced up first and then we’ll see what we’ll do after supper.”

The older Cartwrights with the little boy between them headed off to see the barber. They walked over to 200 Sacramento and went into the establishment of W. H. Cady. 

Mr. Cady looked up as the two men and the child entered his shop. “May I help you?”

“Yes, my little boy here needs a haircut and my son and I both need a shave and a haircut too.”

“Well, that’s just fine. Shall we do the little one first?”  
Ben decided that would be best. Sparky could get his hair cut, then the barber could do his while Adam looked after the little boy and then he would look after his son while his oldest boy had his turn.  
“Yes, I think that would be the thing to do.”

“Papa, I don’t want to go first. You go first this time!”

Ben eyed the little boy. “Nicky, what did we talk about before we came over here?”

“Umm… to be good or we would have a necessary talk?”

“Yes. Are you being good?”

“Umm… no Papa. I’ll be good. I’ll go first if you want me to.”

“Okay, come over here and sit in my lap and let the barber do what he has to do.”

“Okay Papa.”

Sparky crawled into Ben’s lap and Ben settled him comfortably. The barber then combed the little one’s fine blonde hair and began to snip and when he was through the child’s hair was quite short and he looked adorable. 

“You were very good Nicky. Because you were very good if it’s all right with your Papa I’d like to give you a piece of candy.”

“Papa, may I have a piece of candy?”

“Yes, you may.”

“Thank you, Mr. Cady.”

“You’re welcome Nicky.”

The little boy popped the piece of candy in his mouth and Adam had him come and sit next to him while their father got his hair cut and was shaved. 

Once Ben was finished he changed places with Adam and Sparky sat there eating his piece of candy and being very good. 

Once the oldest Cartwright boy was done three handsome men exited the barber and decided where they would like to go to eat.

“Let’s go over here to the Driard Restaurant. It’s right here and if we want to go to someplace different we’d have to get our horses and ride over. Most of them are around the area where there are lots of saloons and I don’t think that would be good with Sparky being with us.” The oldest boy remarked. 

“I agree Adam.”

“Papa why can’t we go to the saloons?”

“Little boy, that is not an appropriate place for little children to go.”

“Why?”

“Because there are too many adult things there that children are not ready to experience.”

“But Papa I’ve been in the Silver Dollar Saloon.”

“Only to see judge Wickerman and that was when it wasn’t exactly a saloon, but a courtroom.”

The little boy decided he’d better not push this topic and left it alone. 

As they entered the restaurant, Ben looked at his child. “Nicholas, I want you to eat your supper like the big boy you keep telling me you are. I will put you in my lap and feed you if it becomes necessary, but then afterward we will go straight back to the hotel and you will go to bed. If you eat and I don’t have to do that we’ll go for a walk and see what interesting things there are to see. Okay?”

“Yes Papa.”

The little family were shown to a table and When they sat down Ben realized that Sparky was too small to reach the table. In Virginia City, they were used to the littlest Cartwright and usually had a large cushion they could put on his chair to raise him up. The little boy even sometimes just sat on his knees in the chair, but here… it just wasn’t appropriate. The woman who came over to wait on them noticed the little tyke. The eldest Cartwright was getting ready to pull the boy into his lap when she said, “I see your little one is having a bit of trouble reaching the table. We have something for that. I’ll be right back.” The young woman returned with a block of wood that was padded and covered in cloth. She said, “Young man, if you’ll move, I’ll put this on your chair and you’ll be able to reach the table.”

The youngster scrambled off the chair and the wooden block was placed on it. Ben bent down then and place Sparky on the cushioned device. Now the little tyke could reach the table comfortably. The older man pushed in his chair and the littlest Cartwright was much happier. He didn’t want to have to sit in Papa’s lap to eat.

The young woman grinned at the sunny smile the boy gave her. “I’ll be back in a while for your order.”

Ben handed Sparky the menu and asked, “What would you like to eat?”

“I don’t know Papa.” 

The older Cartwrights were tired of beef and thought fried chicken sounded good to them. 

“Sparky, would you like some fried chicken?”

“Will it be like Hop Sing makes it?”

“Probably not, but I’m sure it will be good.”

The little boy had never had supper out before. He had eaten lunch at a restaurant, but usually by suppertime he was at home and then shortly afterward it would be bed time. 

“How about chicken pie?”

“Umm… I don’t think so.”

“Maybe some beef stew?”

Sparky again shook his head in the negative.

Ben perused the menu. “What about a small steak?”

“Papa, I’m not hungry.”  
The older man sighed. He realized he probably shouldn’t have allowed him to eat the candy at the barber shop, but it was too late now. His son was going to be difficult. Eating was always a struggle at best and without Hop Sing’s good food to tempt the child it was going to be hard. It had been a bit of a challenge at first on the trail, but Cookie had tempted the little boy with small tidbits of what he was cooking until Sparky became accustomed to the food and then he gave them little problem about eating, just as always, the amount he would eat. 

“Would you like to share my chicken then? Adam and I are going to order the fried chicken with some fried potatoes and sliced carrots.”

“Umm… okay.”

Ben sighed in relief, at least the boy was willing to eat something. 

When the young woman came to take their order, he asked if she would add two extra pieces of chicken to his order for his son. “He doesn’t eat much and a full order would just be a waste. “

She nodded. “Yes, that won’t be a problem. I’ll  
add extra vegetables to your plate and bring another one for you to fix him something.”

When the food was brought Ben placed a chicken leg and wing on Sparky's plate along with a few spoonfulls of carrots and some of the fried potatoes. 

“Here you go baby, you eat up now.”

The little boy took his fork and stabbed the carrots. 

Ben and Adam ate and talked about the drive and the money they had made this trip. Sparky yawned and picked at the chicken wing. He tore the meat of the chicken leg off the bone, but then only ate a few pieces. He had chopped his potatoes and carrots into tiny pieces with his fork, then played with them swirling them around on his plate making designs. 

When the boy’s father glanced over finally at his son he sighed disappointed at his young son and what he had done to his supper.  
“Nicky, look at the mess you’ve made of your dinner!”

“I ate most of it Papa.”

“I don’t think so little boy. It doesn’t look like you ate much by the looks of things.”

Adam glanced over at Sparky and grimaced at the messy plate of what had once been edible food. 

Ben reached over to pluck the child off his seat and into his lap to feed him some more food. 

“Papa, please don’t! I’m not a baby!”

“Nicholas, you have eaten next to nothing, played around with the food on your plate and then expect not to be treated like a baby?”

The youngster looked ashamed. “I’m sorry Papa. I wasn’t very hungry that’s all.”

“That may be so little one, but you need to eat something. Now don’t give me a hard time about feeding you.” 

With that Ben picked up the tiny boy and placing him in his lap fed him some carrots, potato and a part of a chicken breast. 

The little boy didn’t protest further, just ate what he was fed looking very sad. When he finally turned his head, not wanting any more he was placed back on his seat. The little one had a very unhappy look on his face. 

 

Chapter 22

 

When the waitress came she took away Sparky’s messy plate along with the empty plates of Adam and Ben, then asked, “Would you like any dessert tonight? We have apple pie and cherry cobbler.”

“Yes, I think I would like a piece of Apple Pie.”

Adam smiled at her. “I would like some cherry cobbler.”

Sparky piped up, I would like some apple pie.”

“No Nicholas. You didn’t eat your dinner very well, saying you weren’t hungry. I don’t think you’ll eat a piece of apple pie.”

“But Papa!”

“I said no.” Ben said firmly.

The little boy turned on the tears and his father ignored him. 

“There will be no dessert for the child.”

“Yes Sir. I’ll be right back with your dessert.”

Sparky pouted, swinging his feet and looking quite cross. Ben ignored him, not wanting to ignite a tantrum. 

After the older Cartwrights finished their dessert Ben went to pick up his child and Sparky gave his father a hard push. 

“No! I can walk myself! I’m not a baby!”

The older man was a bit shocked by his son’s response. He reacted by giving him a hard swat on his bottom. He didn’t even think about it, just reached out and cracked him one.

“Ow! Papa!” The youngster began to cry loudly and everyone in the restaurant began to look in their direction. Adam just picked up the littlest Cartwright and walked quickly out of the restaurant with him wailing at the top of his lungs. 

Ben totally embarrassed paid the bill and exited as quickly as possible. Once outside he saw his oldest son a little way down the sidewalk. He hadn’t wanted to stand just outside the restaurant with his brother still wailing at the top of his lungs. 

“Nicky, stop this right now! Pa swatted you because you acted naughty. Now stop this crying!”

“Papa hates me! He doesn’t love me anymore” Sparky continued to wail.

Ben walking up took the little boy from his oldest son’s arms and hugging him tight to him said, “Baby, Papa still loves you. Papa didn’t like it that you pushed him. You deserved that swat I gave you for doing that. I think little boy you are overtired and need to go to bed.”

“Papa.” Sparky wailed. “I don’t want to go to bed! I want some apple pie! I want to go for a ride on Blaze! I want to see the saloons where the men go!”

“No little boy, it’s bed you’ll be going to and that will be that.”

The littlest Cartwright cried hard and his father was a little concerned. The child hadn’t had this bad a tantrum for a very long time. He was crying so hard his little face was turning red and he was having a difficult time breathing. If he didn’t stop soon he would vomit. 

Ben found a bench and sat down and held Sparky’s little face to his shoulder and rocked him gently while soothing him by rubbing circles on his back and murmuring soft soothing things to him. 

Soon the little boy’s tears began to abate and they turned into hiccups and finally he fell sound asleep in his father’s arms. The man sat there for a while longer rocking him soothingly and making quite sure his little son was sleeping soundly.

 

“Do you want me to take him Pa?”

“No Adam, I’ll carry him back to the hotel.”

They walked slowly back to the Oriental Hotel and were very glad the littlest Cartwright stayed asleep. When they got up to their room Ben undressed Sparky and then tucked him into bed. He would be sleeping with him while they were there in San Francisco.

Now that Sparky was sound asleep Adam approached his father.  
“Pa?”

Yes son?”

“May I go out and have a beer or two?”

The older man sighed. He knew Adam was growing up and he had had a hard trail drive just like the other men. He knew if Sparky hadn’t been along he would be joining him.  
“Would you mind very much if we waited on that?”

“Pa… I promise I’ll have no more than two beers and come right back. I’m not five-years-old you know. I’m a big boy now.”

The elder Cartwright sighed. He knew what his son said was true, but he would feel a whole lot better about it if he could be with him. With Sparky along that would be an impossibility and the boy shouldn’t be deprived because of his brother.

“Okay Adam, no more than two and then it’s back here. I don’t expect you to sleep anywhere but here at the hotel with me and your brother.”

The young man blushed at his father’s meaning. “I’ll do as you say Pa. Two beers and I’ll come back. I’ll only be an hour or two.”

“Son, please avoid the poker games.”

“I will. Don’t worry about me.”

“Where are you proposing to go for these beers?” 

“I thought I’d go to the El Dorado. Most of the hands said that was where they would be going.”

“Okay. I’ll see you in a while.”

Adam put on his jacket, his gun belt and hat, then left the room. “See you in a couple of hours Pa.”  
Then the young man was gone. 

Ben struggled with the knowledge that his first born was becoming a man and that he had to let go of the apron strings some time. He then glanced down at his youngest son and wondered what kind of man he’d turn out to be. 

<<<<>>>>

Adam walked into the El Dorado at the corner of Washington and Kearny. He was amazed by the bright lights, the lanterns were turned way up and had reflective devices which made them seem to shine brighter. The place was noisy too. There was a piano playing and a girl singing. There were several poker tables at the back. Whiskey and beer flowed freely. He found Jake and Sam there from the Ponderosa. Going up to the bar for a beer, he sauntered over to their table. “Do you mind if I join you?”

“Naw, sit down Adam. Where’s ya Pa?”

“Back at the hotel with Sparky.”

“How’s the little mite?”

“Naughty as ever. I think he was overtired when we went to eat. He made a mess out of his plate of food and then was mad because Pa wouldn’t let him have dessert. He ended up getting swatted and then had a major tantrum. He’s asleep now and my father is watching him.”

“Whew! That little boy can sure have some tantrums too!”

“I’ll say. He cried so hard he almost made himself sick.”

The men then turned to other topics and Adam watched as the girls worked the crowd paying special attention to the card players as they seemed to have the most money. After his second beer, he got up to go.

“Where ya going boy?”

“I promised Pa that after I had my second beer I’d head on back to the hotel.”

“Okay, then you’d better get along. It don’t do no good ta get ya Pa riled at ya. Ya ain’t too old that he can’t warm ya britches for ya.”

“No, I’m not. He’s made that very clear several times.” Adam grinned. You guys take care and I’ll see you back at the Ponderosa.”

Adam meant to leave then, but just couldn’t resist the little bit of freedom he had been granted. He wandered over to the poker tables to watch for a time. One of the girls approached him. “Hi ya honey, my name is Cassie. Ya so young and handsome. Buy a girl a drink?”

The young man looked down into bright blue eyes and blonde hair piled high with curls streaming down, teasing her cheeks. Her long slender neck and her bodice cut low with a hint of what lay beneath as the curves of her breasts peeked out caught Adam’s attention. All of a sudden, his throat felt very dry. 

He smiled, “Sure… I’ll buy you a drink.” He sat at a nearby table and called for a couple of beers. 

“Oh honey, a good-looking man like ya should be drinking some whiskey, not that stuff.” She pointed to the beer in his glass. He called for two whiskey’s when he finished his beer. 

The girl placed her hand on Adam’s thigh and stroked the inner part. He felt inner stirrings and he realized his jeans were growing a bit tight. “Umm… I don’t think you should be doing that Cassie.”

She smiled at the young man. “Why honey, ya have had a woman before haven’t ya?”

“I can’t tonight. My Pa is back at the hotel with my baby brother and I need to get back.”

“The night’s young. Ya don’t really have to get back so soon do ya?”

The young man struggled with his conscience. He knew he should go, but wanted to stay.

 

Chapter 23

 

His father’s words echoed in Adam’s head *I don’t expect you to sleep anywhere but here at the hotel with me and your brother.*

“Yes, I do need to go. I’ve already been gone too long and my little brother is a handful.”

“He’s sleeping though ain’t he?”

“Maybe. He’s prone to nightmares and I’m sometimes the only one who can soothe him.”

“Aw, that’s really cute.”

“Maybe some other time Cassie. I really do have to get going.” Adam said regretfully.

“Well, honey ya do what ya got ta do. Ifn ya change ya mind I’ll be around.”

Adam left some money on the table and made his way out of the saloon. He glanced at his pocket watch before he mounted sport and realized he been gone more than the couple of hours he had promised. He felt his stomach churn. Pa was not going to be happy with him.

Ben glanced at his pocket watch for what seemed to him must have been the thousandth time. *Where the heck was that boy of his?* Two hours had passed some time ago. He couldn’t go looking for him because Sparky was sound asleep. He didn’t want to disturb the child by dressing him to bring him along to go looking for his eldest son. Finally, he heard the key turn in the lock and closed the book he had open, marking the page and placing it on the table.

When Adam stepped into the room he knew by the look on his father’s face that he was in major trouble. It had been quite some time since his Pa had directed that particular look at him and it made his stomach do flip flops. In the past, he knew what that look had meant and the man wouldn’t have been very subtle about it either. A trip to the barn resulted after a lecture and the young man felt shame creep into his heart as his face reddened.

“Boy, where have you been? More than a couple of hours has passed by since you left.”

“Pa… I’m sorry…”

“Adam, I don’t want to hear you’re sorry. I want to know why my supposedly adult son has not kept his promise of having two beers and coming back to join his father and brother.”

The young man could say nothing. His father’s quiet and low tone indicated danger for him. He looked up into those chocolate brown eyes seeing disappointment and was that fear? *Oh no, Pa had been really worried about him.* Adam felt really low now.  
“Pa, I don’t have a good excuse. I got caught up in the excitement of it all and ignored my conscience when it prodded me to leave on time.”

Ben could see his son’s shame. He realized the boy understood he had let him down and the man wasn’t quite sure how he wanted to handle this. Adam should be disciplined… hmmm… 

“Son, go to bed. We’ll talk more about this in the morning. I can see you drank more than you promised as well.”

“Yes Sir.”

“We’ll deal with all this tomorrow. I need time to think about what I want to do.”

“Yes Sir.”

Adam proceeded to get ready for bed. He changed into his nightshirt. Just as he was getting ready to climb into bed after kneeling and saying his prayers felt a stinging swat land on his backside.

“Oww, Pa!”

“Shh… don’t wake your brother!”

“What did you expect with a sneak attack like that!”

“Go to bed.”

“yes Sir.” Adam rubbed the stinging place on his behind grateful it hadn’t been more than that.

Sparky stirred in his sleep and Ben rubbed the little boy’s back and murmured to him softly. When his breathing deepened again, the man knew his little boy was fast asleep. 

The elder Cartwright blew out the lamp, walked over to the other bed and planted a kiss on his eldest son’s forehead. Adam too hadn’t taken very long to fall asleep, snoring softly. The alcohol he had consumed would either fade away with the night or re-visit the boy in the morning in the form of a hangover. 

Ben crawled into bed with the little mite and cuddling his small body close to his own breathed a prayer to Elizabeth that he was grateful that their child was again safe with him and that the littlest Cartwright was caught in the loving web of their family. 

Sparky woke, stretching and yawning. He looked over at the other bed. Adam was sound asleep. He turned to see his Papa’s eyes also closed and snoring sounds coming from him. The little boy had to use the facilities. He slipped out of bed and crept to the door in his nightshirt his little bare legs peeking out from under it. He carefully turned the knob on the door and slipped out into the hall. He ran quickly in his bare feet down the carpeted hallway until he came to the water closet and entered it.

Ben woke and found the spot next to him where one little boy should have been vacant. He sat up straight and glanced quickly around the room. Where had the child gone? Another missing son in less than twenty-four hours!

“Adam! Wake up! Your brother is gone!”

The young man woke startled by his father’s shouts. “Pa! What’s the matter?”

“Your little brother is missing! I woke and he wasn’t in bed and I have no idea where he has disappeared to!” The older man almost laughed at his oldest son’s concerned expression and then the anger the boy showed. 

“I’m going to give that boy a very necessary talk when I find him! He knows better than to go anywhere without telling anyone! He got himself soundly spanked for that when he came on this trail drive!” The older boy exclaimed. 

The boy really looked worried, but Ben had a good idea where the child had gone and wasn’t too concerned. He wanted his eldest son however to experience a little taste of what he had put him through the night before. 

Sparky finished with his business and ran down the hallway quickly to their room and then stopped. He turned the knob carefully and slipped inside. 

Adam seeing the knob turn and then the littlest Cartwright sneaking into the room strode over to the little mite. Towering over him he demanded, “Where have you been little boy? Don’t you know you’re not supposed to leave this room without telling someone first?”

Ben seeing the child cringe at his son’s towering over him landed a sharp swat to Adam’s posterior.

“Oww! Pa!”

The little boy’s eyes widened and rounded. They were as huge as saucers. He had never seen his Papa swat his oldest brother in his nightshirt before.

“I’m Sparky’s father and I will be the one to deal with him on this. 

“Yes Sir!” Adam couldn’t help but rub the stinging spot. 

Sparky had backed himself up against the door now worried about his own little behind covered by nothing but the tail of his nightshirt. 

Ben walked over and plucked the little mite up into his arms. 

“Well little boy, where were you? Did you go to the water closet?”

“Yes Papa. Both you and Adam were asleep and I had to go real bad. I didn’t have time to wake you and I thought I would be back before you woke up.”

“Well baby, you thought wrong. You know as soon as you were gone from my bed I would know you weren’t there. To not see you in the room was very worrisome. You know we’ve had this little talk before about you wandering off without telling anyone.”

The little boy now had tears coming down his face. “I’m sorry Papa. I thought I’d only be a minute.”

Ben sat the youngster in his lap. “Nicky, all it takes is a quick second for someone to do you harm son. You are little enough that any adult can pick you up and do anything they want to do whether you wanted them to or not. Have you forgotten your experiences with your daddy?”

Sparky reddened and ducked his head. He knew Papa was right. His own daddy could pick him up and paddle his backside whenever he had wanted to and no amount of kicking or wriggling made him let go. He had received a couple of really severe lickings from Lyle Gibson just that way. 

The little boy began to cry in earnest now. 

Adam had backed off and sat on his bed thinking sitting on his behind was a pretty good idea right now. Pa couldn’t get to it so easily that way. 

“Nicholas, I want you to promise me you will *never* leave either Adam or I without telling one of us where you are going. Okay?”

“Yes Papa.”

Ben then flipped the child over his knee and administered two hard swats to his backside after flipping up the tail of his little nightshirt. 

“Oww! Papa!”

The man hugged the little one to his chest, then laid him back down in the bed. “You stay there for a while okay? Your brother Adam and I have some business to take care of.”

“Okay Papa.” Sparky snuggled down into his covers getting warm. 

 

Chapter 24

 

Adam colored slightly. *Pa wouldn’t punish him in front of Sparky, would he?* Ben looked at his oldest son then. “Adam, last night you promised me you wouldn’t be any longer than a couple of hours. When you woke up this morning and found your little brother gone from the room how did you feel?”

“I was worried and a bit scared pa.”

“Perhaps you can now understand why I was put out by your behavior last night.”

The boy reddened and felt ashamed. “Yes Sir.”

“Son, you told me last night before you left that you weren’t a five-year-old. You didn’t act any differently last night than your six-year-old brother did this morning.”

“Yes sir.”

“You also broke two promises. You didn’t come back when you said and you didn’t stick to the two beers either. You smelled of whiskey when you came in.”

The oldest Cartwright boy reddened even more if that was possible. 

“Yes Sir.”

Sparky lay on the bed listening and rolled over to see his oldest brother’s red face and was amazed that Papa was scolding him just like he scolded him for being naughty. This was very interesting to the little boy.

“What you did son was very immature and inconsiderate. I believed that trusting you to act like a man was a good decision on my part. I’m sorry I was wrong in my judgment.”

Adam felt really bad now. Tears were lurking in those hazel eyes and he hung his head. “Pa, I didn’t mean to let you down. I didn’t mean to disappoint you.”

“I know you didn’t. I should have not allowed you to go on your own. You haven’t had a lot of experience in places like the El Dorado and the temptations were too great. In truth, it was more my fault than yours.”

“Oh Pa, please don’t say that. I acted like a boy instead of a man. A man keeps his word. I knew you were here with Sparky and weren’t able to leave without taking him with you. I should have returned when I said I would. I did get up to leave after my two beers, but… well I got distracted.”

The older man eyed his son. “I can imagine.” He said dryly.

“Pa, I promise I won’t do that again.”

“Adam, at the moment your promises don’t hold much weight as the last ones weren’t kept.”

The boy again hung his head. “Pa, how can I make it up to you?”

The man smiled to himself. Now that was his son speaking.  
“You can begin by keeping your promises. I want you to look after your brother this morning while I take care of some business. You will not leave this room. You will supervise him washing up, getting dressed and then keep him entertained until I return for lunch. Neither of you will leave this room except to use the water closet, is that understood?”

“Yes Sir. I’ll make sure we stay right here.”

“Good.”

Ben motioned then for Adam to stand. he turned him and sitting on the bed pulled the young man across his knees, flipped up his nightshirt and gave him six hard swats. He flipped the tail back down and pulled Adam to a sitting position right next to him.

“Ooohhh! Pa!”

It had all happened so quickly that the young man had hardly registered what occurred. He did know that his behind was very warm. 

Sparky was surprised at his Papa swatting his big brother like that. If he had blinked he might have missed it. He pretended he hadn’t seen it though and just lay on the bed his own little behind still stinging enough to remind him that his father’s swats didn’t tickle. He felt bad for Adam. 

“Son, I want that to be a little reminder to you of what I will do if you don’t follow my instructions this morning is that understood?”

“Yes Sir. I’ll be very sure to look out for Sparky.”

“There is to be no spanking of your little brother either from you Adam. Any discipline will be carried out by me is that also very clear?”

“Ooh, Yes Sir.” The young man squirmed on his still stinging bottom.

“Good. I’m glad that we’ve been able to come to an understanding.”

“Yes Sir.”

Ben then stood up. Adam remained sitting until his father said, “You had better get going now son and get your brother going too. I’ll be back in about a half hour with breakfast for the two of you.”

“yes Sir.”

Ben, after washing, shaving and dressing left the room shutting the door behind him.

<<<<>>>>

Adam looked at his little brother huddled down in the blankets. “Sweet Pea, let’s get you washed up and dressed for the day okay?”

“Okay” Sparky did not want Papa to swat his big brother again because of him being naughty. He didn’t want to get Adam in trouble. 

In about a half hour Ben returned to the room with breakfast for them all. He had decided to eat with his children, partly to be sure that his youngest son would eat. 

The two boys sat gingerly eating their breakfast and wishing their father would go about his business and leave them to their own devices. 

When Ben got ready to leave he looked at both his youngest and oldest sons. “I’ll be going now. I don’t have to remind you that if I return and things aren’t in order that you will both be in major trouble with me, do I?”

“No Papa, no Sir.”

“Very good.”  
With that Ben buckled on his gun belt and placing his hat on his head left the room.

<<<<>>>>

Sparky and Adam eyed each other.

“Sweet Pea, you’re not going to give me any trouble, are you?”

“Uh uh. I don’t want you to get spanked again.”

The older boy reddened then, realizing his little brother had not only heard, but had seen him spanked. “Good. I don’t want to get spanked again either.”

“What will we do until Papa gets back?”

“How about we work on some of your schoolwork”

Sparky made a face. “Do we have to Adam?”

“I think it would be a good idea. It would pass the time away and I think Pa would be happy about it.”

The little boy didn’t like the idea, but he knew his older brother was probably right. Papa would be happy that he had worked on his schoolwork, after the tantrum he had last night and slipping out without telling anyone this morning… well he didn’t want to push his luck.

Adam set Sparky to solving some Arithmetic problems and picked up a book to read while his brother did the assigned work.

 

Chapter 25

 

Sparky puzzled over the arithmetic problems Adam had written on some hotel stationary. When he had completed all the addition, subtraction and multiplication he said, “I’m finished with these.”

The older boy put down his book and pulled the paper his little brother had completed toward him. He went over the problems and was very pleased, the youngster had gotten them all correct, including the multiplication. 

“You did very well Sparky! You got them all right!” Adam wrote 100% at the top of his paper. Then he scooped the littlest Cartwright into his arms and hugged him and then tickled him.  
The child giggled then and when he stopped the older boy said, “I think it’s time you tried to work on division Sparky.”

“Division Adam? What’s that?”

“well, it’s a way of learning how things are broken down into parts.”

“What do you mean?”

“Let me show you.” Adam proceeded to fold and tear a piece of paper into equal parts making a total of eight pieces of paper. 

“Okay this was one piece of paper, wasn’t it?”

“Yes.”

“Now how many pieces of paper has it become?”

Sparky counted the pieces “Eight”

“That’s exactly right. Do you notice however that each piece is smaller than when the paper was one whole sheet?”

“Yes Adam”

“That’s because I divided the paper into equal parts.”

“Kind of like when Hop Sing cuts a pie into pieces?”

The older boy grinned at the little mite’s quick mind.

“Exactly. Hoss could eat that entire pie all by himself, couldn’t he?”

“Yes Adam, but Hop Sing would be pretty mad if he did that.”

“You are so right. So, in order for everyone to have a piece he divides it up among all of us.”

“This way we can all share?”

“Right.”

“How many pieces does Hop Sing divide the pie into” Sparky asked, looking at Adam quizzically.

“Well, how many of us are there in our family including Hop Sing?”

“Six.”  
“So how many pieces would he divide the pie into in order for each of us to have a piece and finish the pie so there aren’t any leftovers?  
“Six!”

 

“Correct. Now suppose we had company, for instance Gregory and Christopher came how many pieces of pie would we need to have so each person could still have a piece?”

“Eight?”

“Yes. Will those eight pieces be as large as the six pieces?”

Sparky looked at the pieces of paper Adam had torn up from the one big piece of paper. 

“No, they would be smaller.”

“You are right, smart boy!”

“So, if there are eight people and eight pieces of pie will there be any pie left over?”

“No.”

“So, if I have eight pieces of pie and there are eight people how many pieces of pie will each person get to eat?”

“One.”

“That’s right. So… eight divided by eight is one.”

“So, six divided by six is also one?”

“Yes.” Adam smiled at his little brother. “Very good Sparky.”

The older boy looked at his little brother, “Remember our multiplication tables?”

“Yes.”

“Well that will help you to divide.”

“How?”

“Let me show you. If Hop Sing has two pies and there are six people and they each want two pieces of pie how many pieces of pie will we need?”

“Twelve because six times two is twelve.”

“Correct. So, if we need twelve pieces of pie and there are two pies how many pieces will each pie need to be cut into?”

Six!”

“Correct. So, twelve pieces of pie divided among six people means each person may have two pieces of pie. So, twelve divided by six is two.”

“Adam?”

“Yes?”

“Would that also mean that twelve divided by two is six because two pies are divided into six pieces each?”

“Yes!” The older boy gave his younger brother a big hug and squeezed him tight. He was always amazed by the leaps Sparky took once he understood a concept. The Boy worked on his division for a while longer and then Adam let Sparky read. Before they knew it, it was almost time for their father to return. 

<<<<>>>>

When Ben came into the room after a successful morning he was glad to see both his youngest and oldest sons with happy looks upon their faces. He assumed things had gone well between his sons while he was away. 

Sparky looked up at his father smiling. “Papa I know how to divide now!”

“You do young man?”

“Uh huh. If Hop Sing has two pies and there are six people we can each have two pieces of pie!”

The oldest Cartwright laughed out loud. “Yes, we could, but you little boy would be lucky if you ate one piece of that pie.” Ben said smiling and tousled the little boy’s blonde hair. 

“Well… I’d at least have one instead of none” Sparky pouted. 

The older man eyed his son. “You didn’t deserve a piece of pie last night because you didn’t eat your dinner and little boy if you ever push me again like you did last night I’ll be taking your britches down and warming your little bottom good as well. Is that understood?”

The child hung his head in shame now. “Yes Papa. I won’t behave that badly again.”

The older man then took the little tyke into his arms and hugged him. “You are forgiven baby. How would you like to get washed up and ready to get some lunch?”

Sparky snuggled into his Papa’s arms. “Yes. I’d like that.”

“Good. Adam, would you please help your brother to get ready?”

“Yes Sir.” The older boy poured warm water into the basin and supervised his little brother washing up.

Adam recognized that his father was still punishing him by making him take care of Sparky. Usually this would have been a task his father would have handled himself. 

When they were all washed up and ready to go they left the hotel and getting their mounts rode on over to a restaurant on Jackson. 

Once there Ben seated himself and then asked if there was a way they could put something on his child’s chair to help him reach the table more comfortably. 

The woman brought out a couple of pillows and placed them on the little boy’s chair. This helped and Sparky was happy to be able to reach the table. 

Ben ordered bowls of soup and sandwiches for them all, with a glass of milk for Sparky and coffee for himself and his oldest son.

“Papa, when can I drink coffee like you and Adam?”

“Not until you are much older little boy.”

“Yes Papa.”

The youngster proceeded to eat some of his soup and about half his sandwich. Ben looked over at his child and decided he had eaten pretty well for once. When the serving girl asked if they wanted any dessert he ordered a dish of ice cream for them all as a treat.  
The little boy as always seemed to get more of the sweet frozen dessert on him, than in him. Ben asked for a damp cloth and was given one by the serving girl. “He really is a sweet little boy, isn’t he?”

Adam rolled his eyes. “Yes, when he’s asleep.”

The elder Cartwright eyed his oldest son. “Yes, he is a sweet child when he is behaving well.”

“He gives you quite a bit of mischief?”

“Oh yes.”

The littlest Cartwright ducked his head then and his father and brother both grinned at his charming ways. 

After paying the bill Ben put his young son up on Blaze and they rode on down Jackson street. Little Sparky’s eyes nearly popped out of his head when his attention was caught by a large window display of every toy imaginable. 

“Papa! Look at all the toys!”

Ben glanced up to see a sign that proclaimed, A. Kohler Toys and Fancy Goods. He too was taken by the display. 

“I want to look at the toys!”

“Not now Sparky. We have business to attend to.”

“But Papa! I want to see the toys! I’ve never seen so many toys!”

“I know son, but some other time. We don’t have time to stop right now.”

“I want to see the toys!” He started to cry.

Ben was frustrated. He knew the youngster was only having a tantrum because he wanted to get his way. He rode closer to his child’s pony.

“Nicholas, if you don’t want to be embarrassed right here in the street I suggest you stop this tantrum right now and come along.”

The little boy understood his father’s meaning and pouting rode along with no further crying 

The elder Cartwright was glad his youngest son had complied and he hadn’t been forced to have a necessary little talk right out in public. he didn’t like to discipline his children in front of other people if it could at all be avoided. 

They made their way over to the California Savings Bank on Montgomery. Once there they dismounted, Ben taking his child off his pony and went inside. 

“Adam, you will watch your brother while I conduct the business I need to “

“Yes Pa.”

“Nicholas, you had better listen to your big brother. He has permission to discipline you as he sees fit until I come back do you understand?”

“Yes Papa. I’ll be good.”

“See that you are.”

Ben strode off in the direction of the bank office. 

Adam took his little brother by the hand and sat him on a chair next to him. “You sit here and be quiet until Pa comes back.”

“Can we go back to that toy store and look while Papa is here?”

“No. Pa wanted us to stay right here.”

“But, I wanted to look at all those toys.”

“Nicky…!” The older boy said in a low warning tone.

The child stuck out his lower lip in a pout. He swung his legs and feet and sulked. 

Adam ignored him. He picked up a nearby magazine and began to read. Sparky seeing his big brother was engrossed in the article he was reading silently slipped out of his chair and went out of the bank. He glanced up and down the street trying to remember how to get back to the toy store. He knew he couldn’t get up on Blaze because there was no way for him to mount. He walked down the street the way they had come and tried to re-trace their path, not thinking of the consequences of wandering away, especially without telling anyone. 

 

Chapter 26

 

Adam finishing the article glanced up and was shocked to find the chair next to him empty. He quickly scanned the immediate area for his tiny little brother but didn’t see him. He stood up and walked around the entire lobby. He was nowhere to be seen. The older boy’s heart pounded hard. He had not been paying attention and now his baby brother was missing. ‘Where had the little boy gone?‘ He asked a few people in the bank if they had seen a small boy with blonde hair, dressed in jeans and a blue shirt. No one had noticed the child. One of the tellers told him that they thought they had seen a youngster leave the bank about twenty minutes ago. 

Adam was frantic. ‘Twenty minutes ago? That was a long time, enough for a small curious bright little boy to get into a whole lot of trouble!’ 

The young man stepped out onto the street hoping to spot his little brother just playing outside the bank. Of course, he was nowhere to be seen. He knew Sparky had wanted to see the toys and decided to go that way.

The littlest Cartwright wandered down one sidewalk and then another. He saw a group of children playing in the street and joined in on their games for a while until they left for their homes. Now Sparky was worried. He didn’t exactly know what direction to go to find the toys and didn’t know how to get back to Adam either. 

<<<<>>>>

Constable Sam Hardings was strolling along and noticed a young child he didn’t know. He knew most of the children who lived in this area and noticed the small boy was also wiping tears from his face. He approached the youngster carefully. He didn’t want to scare him.

“Hi There. My name is Sam, what’s yours?”

The little boy looked up at the peace officer warily. Papa had told him, when he had asked about the men he had seen dressed this way, that these men were men who kept the law, like Sheriff Roy Coffee and his deputy. They helped keep the peace, but he still didn’t trust him. He just stuck his fingers in his mouth and chewed on them looking at the man with large grey eyes still filled with tears. 

Sam hunkered down to the boy’s level. “Where do you live?”

Sparky still said nothing

“Little boy, I’m not going to hurt you. Where’s your Papa? If you tell me where your Papa is I can bring you to him.”

The child still said nothing. 

The peace officer reached out and picked up the little boy.  
The youngster went into action. He began to kick, punch and scratch. He was like a little hellcat. 

Constable Harding just held the fighting boy out in front of him at arm’s length and began to walk toward the precinct. As Sam stepped out onto Montgomery he saw a tall dark haired young man come striding toward them. 

“Nicholas! There you are!”

Sparky hearing Adam’s voice immediately stopped fighting and as soon as the young man got near enough flung all thirty-five pounds of him into his oldest brother’s arms hiding his face in Adam’s shoulder and crying hard. 

The eldest Cartwright brother put his arms around the youngest one offering him safety and rubbed his back in soothing circles.  
“Shh… Shh…Big brother’s got you now.”

“Does this child belong to you?”

“Yes Sir, he’s my baby brother. We were in the bank waiting for my father. I wasn’t paying attention and one minute he was sitting next to me, the next minute he was gone.”

‘I found him down this street all alone. This is not a very good neighborhood for a small child like him to be wandering around out on his own.”

“Yes Sir. I understand. I’m sorry. I’ll keep a closer eye on him from now on.”

The constable eyed Adam. “Be sure that you do young man.”

“I will Sir.” Adam replied rocking his little brother in his arms. 

Once the constable left the oldest Cartwright brother walked back to the bank with Sparky still crying. He stepped inside and seeing the door to the bank office still closed went up to the bank teller. “May I ask a favor of you?”

“Yes, what is it?”

“When my father, Mr. Cartwright comes out would you tell him I had to step out with my brother for a bit and will be right back?”

“Yes. I see you found the little tyke. Is he okay?”

“Yes. He was a bit frightened and I just need to calm him down.”

“All right. I’ll make sure your father gets the message if he comes out before you get back.”

“Thank you.”

Adam walked out carrying his brother and looking up and down the street saw what he was looking for. He took the alley he saw to the back and then seeing a chopping block he strode over to it and sat down.  
Sparky was just sniffling now. The older boy putting him in his lap asked, “Nicholas, where did you go and why did you leave the bank without telling me?”

The little boy buried his face into Adam’s shoulder and refused to answer.

The young man gently pulled his baby brother away from his shoulder and putting a knuckle under his chin tipped Sparky’s little face toward him. “Little boy, you are in *very* big trouble.”

“Umm… Adam… “Sparky’s little chin began to tremble and new tears coursed down his cheeks. 

“I’m waiting for an answer Nicholas.” Adam said sternly without losing eye contact with the child. 

“Umm… I was bored… Umm… I thought I would go to see the toy store.” The littlest Cartwright said the last in almost a whisper.

“Weren’t you told no about that by Pa Nicholas?”

Sparky was getting a bit nervous by his big brother’s use of his full name ‘Nicholas’. 

“Yes Adam.”

“What happened that your clothes are dirty?”

“I… Umm… I saw some children, so I stopped to play with them. When they left I didn’t know which way to go to find you or the toy store. Then the man in the uniform came and Papa told me to not talk to strangers. He picked me up and I tried to fight him, but he wouldn’t let me go.” The little boy again began to cry hard.

Adam hugged him tight until his tears abated again. He turned the sad little face toward him so he could look into those large grey eyes. 

“Sparky, remember Pa told you that man is a good man. He was trying to help you. The men in blue uniforms are the constables, they are law men, like Sheriff Coffee and Clem at home.”

“Yes, but he scared me.”

“I can see that baby by the way you flung yourself at me when I found you.”

Sparky cuddled closer into his older brother and Adam instinctively tightened the hold he had around him. “You’re safe now. Nicholas, this is exactly the reason Pa and I tell you to not wander off on your own. You are little enough that almost anyone can pick you up and take you away. They could do any harm to you they would want to and you couldn’t do a thing about it.”

The youngster looked into his oldest brother’s hazel eyes and nodded. 

“Nicholas, I’m going to have to punish you for this and then I’m telling Pa what you did.”

“Oh no Adam! Please don’t! Please don’t tell Papa! Please don’t punish me!”

“I’m sorry little brother, but you’ve earned it this time.” Without further discussion Adam stood the little boy in front of him and asked, “Nicholas, do you know why I’m going to spank you?”

“Yes, because I wandered off without telling you and could have gotten hurt.”

“Very good.”

Adam then pulled the little boy across his knee, raised his hand and smacked it down hard six times on his jean clad bottom. 

“Oww!” Sparky wailed as his big brother administered the punishment. When he was through he sat the child up and holding him in his arms asked, “What do you have to say for yourself little boy?”

“I’m sorry. I won’t do that again. You spank hard!”

“Yes, I do and if my guess is right your little bottom will be receiving some more attention from Pa.”

“Oh no, he won’t spank me if you already did, would he?”

“I’m not sure about this time little brother. This is a pretty big rule you broke and Pa’s not going to be too happy with you.”

Sparky hung his head and hoped his big brother was wrong. 

 

Chapter 27

 

Picking up the child Adam went back into the bank. Ben was just exiting and seeing his baby son with red rimmed eyes and a red nose knew something was up. He waited until they stepped out of the bank before asking Adam,  
“What’s been going on with you and your little brother?”  
“Pa, he went wandering off and was lucky enough to get found by the constable before any harm came to him.”  
Ben’s face darkened. “Little boy, how many times have you been told to not wander off without telling someone?”  
Sparky didn’t answer, just buried his face in Adam’s shoulder and cried.  
Ben reached out and took his little son into his own arms. Sparky resisted for a moment, but then went into Ben’s arms willingly. “Papa  
, I’m sorry. I promise I won’t go wandering off again.”  
“I know you’re sorry little boy. You will have to learn that you can’t just go wandering off.”  
“But, Papa, I was bored. Adam was reading some old magazine and I didn’t have anything to do!”

“That doesn’t matter young man. You know the rules. Where were you going anyway?”

I wanted to see the toys again Papa.”

“Well, as far as those toys are concerned young man, you can just forget about them. You won’t be seeing them today.”

“But Papa!”

“Enough! If I hear one more word about those toys we will leave San Francisco without ever stepping foot in that place do you understand little boy?”

Sparky began to cry again. “Yes Papa.”

Ben looked at Adam with the unasked question and his son inclined his head toward the alley he had recently used to have some privacy to punish his brother.

Ben headed for it with his recalcitrant son in his arms.  
Once he saw the chopping block he sat down on it and placed Sparky between his knees facing him.  
“Nicholas, do you know why you’re going to get this spanking?”

“Yes, for wandering off, but, Papa, please don’t spank me. Adam already did and my bottom still hurts!”

“I’m sorry about that Nicholas, but you and I need to have this little necessary talk. You have been told over and over to not wander off, haven’t you?”

“Yes Papa, I’m sorry Papa, I promise I won’t do it again! I really truly promise!”

“I’ve heard that before Nicholas and you haven’t kept that promise. I will have to teach you that wandering off is not acceptable young man.”

Ben picked up the little boy, placed him over his knee and removing his jeans and under drawers laid six hard smacks on his little backside. Then, adjusting the little boy’s clothing stood him up in front of him again. 

Sparky was crying for all he was worth and trying to rub out the stinging on his backside. 

“Do you think you have learned your lesson now, little boy?”

“Yes Papa!” The little boy wailed. 

“Do you understand that wandering off without telling anyone is dangerous?”

“Yes Papa!”

“Nicky, I don’t expect this to continue to happen. The next time it happens I may have to spank you more harshly than I did this time. Do you understand?”

“Oohh Yes Papa.” Sparky wailed still rubbing his behind for all he was worth. 

Ben then reached out and hugged his child to him and comforted him. Once the little tyke had stopped crying, the man wiped his tear streaked face with his handkerchief and carried him back to the boardwalk, where his oldest son had been waiting for his father and brother.  
“Adam, you and I need to have a little discussion regarding all this as well.”

“Yes Pa.”

The older man sighed and placed the littlest Cartwright on top of his pony. Sparky’s large grey eyes widened and rounded as his now somewhat tender bottom made contact with the hard saddle. Oohh! Papa! My bottom hurts!”

“Well, Nicholas, that’s what comes of having been spanked for your disobedience.”

“Yes Papa.” The child shifted uncomfortably in the saddle and Blaze pranced. 

Ben walked up to the little boy eyeing him. “If it’s too uncomfortable, you may ride with me.”

“No, Papa, I’ll ride by myself.”

“Well, if I see you shifting too much in your saddle and Blaze prancing you won’t have a choice. Is that clear?”

“Yes Papa.” Sparky replied and adjusted himself in the now somewhat hard saddle as best he could. He didn’t want to have to ride with his Papa like a baby. 

It was an uncomfortable ride back to the hotel for the little boy as his bottom was still stinging. Once they got to the hotel and Ben plucked his small son off his saddle placing him on the ground, Sparky again rubbed his backside for all he was worth. He had learned a bit of a painful lesson. He vowed to himself to not wander off again. 

When they got back to their room Ben looked at the youngster. “Young man, you need to go down for a nap now and no arguments understand?”

The little boy looked up into his father’s stern face and said, “Yes Papa.”

The older man plopped his son onto the bed and while he wriggled on his still somewhat sore behind Ben helped him off with his shoes. Then he made him lie on his stomach and rubbed his back until he knew the little boy was sound asleep.

Adam observed his father with his brother and remembered such times when he was as young as he and Pa had put him to sleep the same way. 

“He’s all tuckered out isn’t he Pa?”

“Yes, he is Adam. Getting spanked twice in a row takes quite a bit out of a young boy.”

The older boy said nothing to this, just looked at his father expectantly.

“Son, tell me how your little brother was able to wander off in the first place. He mentioned something about your reading a magazine.”

The young man hung his head. “Well Pa… he was sulking and pouting, swinging his legs and all because I told him you had said no about going over to the toy store. He wanted to go while you were in with the banker. I decided to ignore him and picked up a magazine to read. I guess I became so engrossed in the article I was reading that I didn’t notice he was gone until I looked up and his chair was empty.”

“Where did you find him?”

“Umm… a constable had him. He was just walking out of one of the side streets not far from the bank.”

Ben eyed his oldest son. “Adam, you were left in charge. You were the one supposed to be supervising your little brother. If you had been doing your job properly he wouldn’t’ have had the opportunity to wander off, would he?”

The older boy looked abashed. “No Sir, I probably should have tried to distract him like we usually do, and if he had a tantrum to deal with it, instead of ignoring him.”

The older man sighed. “Yes, that probably would have been a better approach. Instead you chose to read and ignore him. Adam, you and I have had conversations before about reading taking precedence over your work responsibilities, haven’t we?”

The boy squirmed now. “Yes Sir.”

Ben glanced over at the bed and saw that Sparky was still sound asleep. He hoped the child wouldn’t wake during his disciplining his older son. He didn’t want to do what he knew he had to, but he had to follow through. He looked at the young man. “Adam, your little brother having disobeyed was as much your fault as his. From now on when you are put in charge of any of your brothers you will remember to place your work before your pleasure.”

“Yes Sir.”

Ben sat on the bed next to Adam and pulling him across his lap, proceeded to give his eldest son a sound spanking. 

The young man was ashamed. To be spanked like a little boy and for the second time in as many days was humiliating. After all, he was supposed to be a man, wasn’t he? He hadn’t acted like a man however either time his father had chosen to punish him this way.  
When Ben was through Adam stood, tears falling and rubbed his now stinging behind.

“Well son, what do you have to say for yourself?”

“I’m sorry Pa, I promise to be more mindful of my duties from now on.”

“Very good Adam. You’re forgiven and we will begin again. I don’t however want a repeat of this behavior do you understand?”  
“Yes Sir.”  
Ben tipped his son’s face to meet his eyes and said, “Adam, you are my right-hand man. You are trustworthy and I’m very proud of you. We won’t have any more of these lapses, now will we?”  
“No Sir.”  
Ben then gave Adam a quick warm hug and brushing the hair back from his forehead planted a kiss on it. He pulled back the covers and said, “I think you had better have a nap now too. I plan to do so as well in a few minutes.”  
“Yes Pa.” The boy crawled into bed, laying on his side and promptly falling asleep. Ben checked Sparky and found him still soundly slumbering too. He crawled into bed and cuddled the small form close to him warming the chilled skin of the child, drifting off for his own well-deserved nap.

 

Chapter 28

 

The next couple of days were spent in a great flurry of shopping and other things. Ben made certain to find something to take back for Little Joe, Hoss and Hop Sing. He allowed Adam to make a selection of books for himself and then ones he thought he might need to help Sparky with his schoolwork. They also chose books for the littlest Cartwright to have to read and the other boys too so they could have something for the times when there wouldn’t be anything much else to do. Once this was completed they made a final visit to the toy store. 

“Sparky, you may choose one toy and that is all. If you whine or argue you won’t get any toy at all.”

“Yes Papa.” The little boy took his time looking at the display and Ben turned to Adam, “Please keep an eye on your brother. I have some purchases I’d like to make.” The older boy smiled knowing Pa wanted to do a bit of early Christmas shopping and diligently supervised is little brother. 

Nicky finally chose a tin windup toy. It was of a bear that moved its head and arms when it was wound up. The little boy was fascinated by it and his father had no problem with the child’s selection. 

Later that afternoon Ben took Sparky, along with Adam down to the water. They visited the Sea Lions and the littlest Cartwright had a grand time watching them play and hearing them bark. 

“Papa, can we take one home with us?” The youngster asked delighted at the way the animals played.

“No Sweet Pea. They need to eat a lot of fish and they need to be by the ocean so they can play and be happy.” 

In a while they went down to where the sailing ships came in and out of the bay and the child watched with wonder. “Papa, are these like the ships you sailed on and tell us the stories about?”

“Yes son. They are also like the ships your daddy worked on before he came back to San Francisco to look for you.”

A shadow passed across the child’s eyes and Ben pulled him into his lap and cuddled him for a moment before placing him back on Blaze.

They continued to tour the city, seeing all the wonderful things there were to see.

When they finished their time in San Francisco they began the trek back to Virginia City. 

Sparky rode Blaze along with his Papa and brother. They rode on the trail and Ben made certain to take more frequent breaks than he might normally had it just been himself and Adam. With the youngster along he didn’t want the child to get saddle sore. It would have just slowed them down even more because the little one would have been whining and cranky because he hurt. 

When they got to the ferry where they would cross to Sacramento Sparky was excited. “Papa! We’re going to go over the water on a boat?”

“Yes baby. You stay close to Papa and Adam do you hear? I don’t want you wandering off while we’re on board.”

“Yes Papa. Will Blaze like being on the boat?”

“He won’t mind. He’ll have Buck and Sport to keep him company too.”

“Good.”

Once they boarded and the horses were settled they went out on deck. There were people of all sorts. Men in suits and hats, ladies all dressed up, men in work clothes, women in plain cotton dresses. Little Sparky was adorable and he drew quite a bit of attention from several of the ladies. 

Ben and Adam stood by the rail and the littlest Cartwright tried to imitate them. He was so cute trying to look so grown up. 

At one point, however Sparky climbed up on the ferry railing. 

His father quickly snatched him off. “Nicholas, stay off there!”

“Papa, you didn’t say I couldn’t be up there!”

“Well, I’m telling you now!”  
The little boy pouted. He wanted to see the water go by and he was too little to be able to see much.

The Cartwright men turned to watch the water go by and to admire the scenery as it was a clear day. The child, getting bored slipped away and wandered off to see what he could see for himself. 

The youngster wandered up to the wheelhouse and the captain having not heard the door open, glancing down at a movement at his feet smiled at the tiny child.  
“Son, are you supposed to be up here?”

“I wanted to see how the boat goes.”

The captain smiled. “Little boy, I think you better go back to your daddy.”

“I can’t. My daddy is dead.”

The captain was surprised at the child’s answer.

“How about your mother?”

“She’s dead too.”

The captain wondered then how this child had gotten on his ferry. 

About then Ben Cartwright knocked on the door and the captain called “Enter!”

Sparky’s large grey eyes grew wide and round when he saw his Papa walk through the door with a stern look on his face when he caught sight of his son. 

“So, there you are young man! Do you know Adam and I have been all over this ferry looking for you? I just came up here to tell the captain you were missing and that I was going to need help to find you!”

The littlest Cartwright gulped. He realized he had broken the wandering away without telling anyone rule again and was in big trouble. Tears welled up in his large grey eyes. “I’m sorry Papa.”

The Captain turned and looking at Ben said, “The child was no problem Sir.”

“That’s not the point captain. He has a habit of wandering off without telling anyone where he is going.”

The captain turned and eyed Sparky. “Did you do that little boy?”

“Yes Sir.”

The captain looked at Ben. “My cabin is empty if you would like the use of it.”

The elder Cartwright smiled. “Why thank you Captain, I think I’ll take you up on your offer.”

Ben picked up his little son. “Papa! Nooo!”

“Yes, little boy. You deserve exactly what you’re going to get.” As he exited the wheelhouse he noticed the Captain smile to himself. 

The older man saw Adam and when the young man noticed Sparky in his father’s arms he smiled and grabbed the boy from his father hugging him tight. “So, there you are! Pa and I were worried about you little one.”

“I got bored and couldn’t see, so I decided to take a look around. I found where they steer the boat.”

“I see you did, but little boy, you are in big trouble.”

Sparky put his fingers in his mouth a chewed on them in apprehension of what was to come. 

“Adam, the captain has graciously offered me the use of his cabin. I’ll be back in a bit.”

“Don’t let Papa spank me” Sparky cried with puppy dog eyes. 

“Sorry little brother, it’s out of my hands. You scared Pa and me. We thought you might have fallen overboard and drowned or something when we couldn’t find you.”

The youngster began to cry and his father brought him to the captain’s cabin and shut the door.

Once there, Ben stood the little boy in front of him. “Sparky, why are you going to get this spanking?”

“Because I wandered off without telling anyone a scared you and Adam.”

“Very good. Nicky, because this was partly my and your brother’s fault for not keeping better track of you I won’t be spanking you as harshly as I told you I would for doing this again, but you will be getting a sound spanking Is that clear?”

Yes Papa.” Sparky said tearfully.

Ben then pulled the little boy over his knee, removed his jeans and under drawers and set to work on setting fire to the littlest Cartwright. When Ben was through the little boy was very remorseful and rubbed his now stinging bottom.  
Ben picked up his crying child and after comforting him carried him back to the rail of the ferry where Adam awaited them. 

The older boy took his baby brother into his arms, cuddling him and kissed him on the forehead. “Are you all right Sweet Pea?”

“Yes, except for my bottom.”

Adam chuckled. “I’m glad that you’re all right everywhere else then.”

Sparky smiled at his big brother as he tucked him close and held him so he could see the water and the scenery as they passed by. The little boy spent the rest of the voyage in either Ben or Adam’s arms. Neither was going to let him get out of their sight again. 

When they docked Ben kept a tight hold on his son, keeping him in his arms while Adam saw to their mounts. When They were ready he placed Sparky atop Blaze.

“Oohh Papa! My bottom hurts! 

“Do you want to ride with me and lead Blaze?”

“No Papa.” The child said adjusting himself in the saddle and looking very uncomfortable. 

“Well, if you sit your saddle and don’t squirm about making Blaze prance you may ride. The first time I see Blaze prancing from you shifting in the saddle you’ll be riding with me. Understand?” The man said eyeing the little boy. 

“Yes Papa.” The little boy worked very hard at not squirming in his saddle and by the time they got into Sacramento proper Sparky’s little backside was aching. They stopped at the Orleans Hotel and Ben plucked his child from his pony and holding him in his arms again arranged for the animals to be stabled. 

When they entered the hotel, Adam made to take his little brother from his father’s arms, but Ben just shifted the child to a more comfortable position and continued to conduct business. He ordered baths for all of them. When they got to their room he sat Sparky on the bed. The little mite winced noticeably. Ben eyed him. “Little boy, do you think you learned your lesson from being so stubborn about riding your pony when you were hurting?”

The youngster looked at his father with pain etched on his face. “Yes Papa. I hurt.”

The man said nothing more, just waited for their baths and made sure the little boy soaked out as much of the soreness as he could. 

Ben massaged Sparky with some liniment and after they got some supper, the littlest Cartwright went right to sleep totally exhausted.  
The Cartwright men soon followed suit. 

They spent the next day touring Sacramento. They went to the newly built capitol building and saw all the important sights before leaving for home. 

 

Chapter 29

 

As Ben, Adam and Sparky rode over the rise and saw the Ponderosa below they smiled at each other. The little boy had been very good once they left Sacramento. He hadn’t wandered off again, hadn’t complained, had no temper tantrums, didn’t sulk or pout and it had been an enjoyable ride home. The oldest brother had worked with him on his schoolwork each night by the fire using the books they had bought in San Francisco. Sparky had learned the names of rivers, mountain ranges and other geographical landmarks. He had gotten quite good at his arithmetic, now being able to perform simple division. He was able to give simple historical facts such as Christopher Columbus had discovered America in 1492 and that the United States had declared independence from England in 1776. He could tell Adam that the Atlantic Ocean bordered the country on the east coast and that the Pacific Ocean was on the West coast. He could tell him the Capitol of California was Sacramento as while they were there he had visited the newly built capitol building. 

Adam knew his little brother would be leaps beyond most of the children in his grade when he returned to school. 

As they rode down to the Ponderosa the boys and Hop Sing were there to greet them. Little Joe had just come home from school and Hoss had just come up from the south pasture. Ben was glad to see his sons and gave Hoss a great bear Hug and then picked up Little Joe and hugged him tight. 

Sparky hung back a little a bit worried about how his family would receive him after him running away. He had already been forgiven for his transgressions by Adam and his Papa, but not with his other brothers and Hop Sing.

Hop Sing approached the child. “Little boy need bath. Hop Sing has bath ready for Papa, Adam and Little one.”

The littlest Cartwright remained silent chewing on his fingers and looking very shy. The Chinese man understood. He picked up the child. “Little boy very naughty to run away from school. Worry everyone.”

Tears pooled in his large grey eyes. “Hop Sing” Sparky asked in a wavering voice. “I’m sorry. I promise to try to not do that again.”

The little man walked over to the porch, sat down on the rocker and turned the little boy over his knee and gave him six hard swats with his ever-present wooden spoon.

“Oww! Hop Sing!”

“Little boy no run away again and worry everyone!”

“Yes, Hop Sing, I won’t do that again! I promise!” The youngster sniffed rubbing his behind. 

“Very good. Hop Sing forgive boy. Hop Sing make all boy’s favorite things to eat for supper!” The man hugged the little mite and set him on his feet. 

Sparky rubbed his stinging backside some more, grinning up at the little Chinese man.

The child’s two brothers came up to the little boy then. Hoss took the youngster into his large arms and hugged him. “I missed ya Sweet pea. Ya scared me and Little Joe plumb out of our wits ya know.”

“Yes, Hoss, Little Joe, I’m sorry. Papa spanked me good for doing that.”

The brothers exchanged glances and knew the littlest Cartwright had not had much fun with both Pa and Adam being on the cattle drive.

Hoss brought the boy to the wash house then and Ben took over bathing his child. 

Dinner was a gala affair with all Sparky’s favorite foods just as Hop Sing had said. The little mite got to sit on his large thick cushion so he didn’t have much discomfort sitting. 

When they finished eating Ben presented his cook with spices, a new robe and slippers made of Chinese silk and decorated with a great Chinese dragon. 

Hop Sing was very happy to have these things. 

Hoss received a new rifle scabbard that had been tooled with designs of creatures of the forest and Little Joe was given a replica of a locomotive similar to the one Sparky had gotten for Christmas. 

Ben had also given the boys candy and each a book. 

Both boys hugged their father in appreciation of their gifts. 

The older man then called his youngest son to him. “Sparky, it’s time for you to go to bed little boy. School for you tomorrow. We will go together and you have some apologizing to do to Miss Jones.”

“Papa, I don’t want to go to school. I want to stay home and do my work and have Adam go over it with me each night like we did on the trail.”

The man sighed. He had had a feeling he was going to run into this problem with his youngest child. 

“Little boy, you will go to school, you will apologize to Miss Jones and you will behave while in school do you understand?”

“Yes, but Papa, I don’t want to!”

“Nicholas, you will do as you are told or suffer the consequences!”

“I don’t care! You can spank me every day, but I’m not going back to school! Miss Jones is boring. She doesn’t teach the same way that Adam does!”

“Don’t argue with me Nicholas. You will go to school and apologize to Miss Jones as well.”

The youngster got a mulish look. “I’ll apologize, but I won’t go back to school!”

Ben stood up and turned his stubborn child and landed a hard swat to his bottom. “Don’t you talk to me that way young man. You will do as you are told!”

“Oww! Yes Papa.” Sparky wailed tears running down his little face and rubbing the stinging spot on his bottom. 

The elder Cartwright picked up his small son and took him upstairs to get him ready for bed. 

<<<<>>>>

The next morning Little Joe heard his father and Sparky. He shook his head. His little brother was about to learn that Pa could be more stubborn than the little one could be. 

“No! I don’t want to! I won’t go to school!”

“You will go to school little boy and you will apologize to Miss Jones as well!”

“I told you last night, I’ll apologize to Miss Jones, but I won’t go back to school!”

“I’m not going to argue with you Nicholas!”

“Good! Because I’m not going!”

Ben counted to ten. *Who said adopted children weren’t like their real families. This child must have Cartwright blood somewhere in him.*

 

Chapter 30

 

Ben picked up Sparky, washed him and dressed him. He took him downstairs for breakfast, plopping him onto his cushioned seat. “Eat your breakfast.” He commanded, eyeing his son. 

“No!” The child said with a defiant look. 

“No?” The man continued to eye his stubborn disrespectful child, now with his arms crossed over his chest.

“No! I’m not hungry!” The youngster continued defiantly. 

“Nicholas, you are very close to getting a sound spanking young man.” The elder Cartwright threatened.

“I don’t care! I told you, you can spank me every day, but I’m not going back to school!” The little boy shouted. 

Adam, Hoss and Little Joe exchanged glances. None of them would have dared say anything like that to Pa. 

“Young man, I’m giving you one more chance. You eat your breakfast and stop arguing or I’m going to put you over my knee.!”

The little mite shoved his plate hard sending it crashing into his milk spilling it all over the table, his glass knocking into his father’s coffee spilling it into his plate and slopping it onto his lap.

“I am not going to school and no one can make me” Sparky shouted enunciating each word, then jumping from his chair made to run out of the house. 

The child’s father jumped up to give chase, but Adam, younger, and lighter took off after the little mite. He caught up with him in several strides, before he reached the front door.  
He picked him up, the little one fighting him every inch of the way. 

Sparky tried to kick, twist, bite, scratch and finally spit at his older brother. 

The young man had prevented his little brother from connecting with him with any of these tactics except for the last one. He didn’t let go though and brought the child back over and handed him over to his father still totally out of control. 

Adam went into the kitchen to wash his face where Sparky had spit on him. 

Ben wrestled with thirty-five pounds of pure fight. He hadn’t seen his son this bad since he had first come to them. Hoss stepped in, seeing his father was having difficulty handling the child and contained Sparky. He had him bring him upstairs.

The elder Cartwright turned to his other son. “Little Joe, you go on to school. I’ll meet you there later.”

“Yes Sir.”

Ben went on up to the little boy’s room. He wasn’t sure just how he was going to handle this, but handle it he would.

When he walked into the room Hoss was still holding his little brother, containing him. Sparky was breathing hard and still straining against his older brother with fire in his eyes and fury in his heart. 

“Do ya want me ta let go Pa?”

“No, not yet Hoss.”

Ben approached Sparky and he strained against Hoss to get free, but he continued to hold him fast.

“Little boy, you stop fighting and calm down and I’ll let your brother release you.”

“No! I won’t calm down! You just want to make me go to school and I’m not going! Everyone tries to make me do things I don’t want to do all the time! I’m tired of everyone trying to make me do the things I don’t want to do!” The little boy shouted, still in full tantrum. 

Ben sighed. He hadn’t wanted to have to go this far, but his child was giving him no choice.  
“Hoss, give him to me and please leave the room.”

The older boy looking puzzled gave the little mite over to his father. He left the room as he’d been asked, closing the door after him.

The man, pinning the child’s arms and legs pulled him across his lap as he sat down on the bed. 

The child fought the position with all he had, but his father was stronger than he was.

The older man wrestled the youngster into the position he wanted him in, exposed his little behind and landed a sharp, * very* hard swat to it.

“Owwww!”

“Are you going to calm down little boy or am I going to have to swat you some more?”

The child fought him still and Ben landed two more swats, with the same intensity as the first.

“Owww! Owww!” The youngster cried, still trying to wriggle out of his father’s grasp. 

The man held the child firmly in place. “I suggest you stop this now Nicholas.”

The little boy struggled some more and his father landed three more hard swats on that bare bottom, just as he had the previous ones.

“Owwww” Sparky began to cry hard, stopping his struggling. 

His Papa pulled up the boy’s under drawers, jeans and righted the little fellow, holding him in his lap. 

“Are you ready to talk now little boy?” He asked as he held the child. 

“Yes Papa.” Sparky hiccupped through the tears that were falling in torrents now. All the fight was out of the little boy. 

“What about school has you so upset baby?”

The youngster hid his face in his Papa’s shirt. “I hate it. Miss Jones makes things so boring!”

“I’ll talk to her about that.”

“It won’t help.”

“Give her a chance Sweet Pea. She’s never had to teach a child like you.”

“You mean a child as naughty as me.”

“No, I mean a child as bright as you. You are not a stupid boy, although sometimes in situations like this when you get so stubborn I wonder. Sparky, Miss Jones has to teach several children at once. She can’t give you her full attention all the time.”

“But Papa, why can’t she make things fun like Adam?”

“Because she has to teach thirty children instead of one. It’s easier to teach one child than thirty. Even Adam would have to teach differently if he had to teach thirty children instead of two, like when he teaches you and your brother.”

“No, he wouldn’t! He would still make things fun and interesting.”

“I’m not too sure about that Sweet Pea.” The man had a sudden idea. Hmm… “Well, let’s get your face washed and we’ll get you to school.”

Ben rode Sparky to school not allowing him to ride his pony both because his little bottom was a bit sore, but also as a punishment.  
When he pulled up in the schoolyard he put the little one down and warned, “You stay right there Nicky until I dismount.”

“Yes Papa.” Sparky knew he had better stay put. His father hadn’t had to remind him to do this for a very long time.

The little boy stood next to Buck as the man dismounted. 

He took his child by the hand and led him into the schoolhouse. “Nicky, take your fingers out of your mouth son.”

“Yes Papa.” Sparky removed his fingers from his mouth. 

Ben led his son into the schoolhouse. 

“Good Morning Mr. Cartwright. Good morning Nicholas.”

“Good morning Miss Jones.” Ben and Sparky greeted her in return. “Miss Jones, Nicholas has something he’d like to say to you and the other children.” The man nudged his son forward.

“Umm… Miss Jones, I’m sorry for running off and worrying everyone at school. I’m also sorry for biting you that day.”

“You’re apology is accepted Nicholas. You may take your seat.”

The elder Cartwright led his little son over to his desk. He knelt down to his level. “You behave yourself now. I’ll be back at lunch to get you okay?”

“Yes Papa.”

<<<<>>>>

Sparky sat at his desk a bit gingerly wincing slightly as the little bit of soreness in his bottom made sitting on the hard seat a bit uncomfortable. 

Patrick Kelly, his desk mate noticed and wondered at it. It had been weeks since his desk mate had run off worrying everyone at school. 

At recess Patrick said to Sparky, “Why’d ya Pa paddle ya?”

Sparky colored a little. “Because I didn’t want to come back to school.”

“Ya know, he shoulda whipped ya for pulling a stunt like ya did the day ya bit Miss Jones and ran away from school.”

The little boy hung his head. “He did, with a wooden spoon on my bare bottom.”

Patrick Kelly glanced up then surprised.

“It was hard to sit down for a while.” The other boy confessed.

“Ya deserved it. What made ya do such a thing?”

“I don’t know. I was mad and Miss Jones was making me do stuff I didn’t want to do. I was bored and I wanted to be with my Papa and Adam.”

The other little boy shook his head. “Ifn it’d been me, my Pa would have made sure I couldn’t sit for a week.”

The youngster just hung his head in embarrassment, but was also glad his Papa hadn’t spanked him that hard. Not being able to sit for a whole day had been bad enough. Just then the school bell was ringing calling them back in from recess.

<<<<>>>>

Ben went into town and saw the Sheriff. “Hi there Roy, how have things been?”

“Quiet Ben. Sounds like you had your hands full though.”

“Oh yes, but nothing I couldn’t deal with. That little boy sure was found by the right family though. I swear he has to have some Cartwright blood in him somewhere!”  
The Sheriff chuckled. “The little one giving you a hard time?”

“Oh yes, he had a major tantrum this morning about going back to school.”

“So that’s why you’re hanging around here in town.”

“Well, it wouldn’t pay for me to go back to the ranch and ride all the way back to town again when I’ll have to pick him up in a couple of hours.”

“Well, I’m glad to have ya here.”

The two men talked for a while and then Ben went to collect the mail and some things for Hop Sing.

 

Chapter 31

 

“Nicholas, can you tell me what ocean borders San Francisco?”

Sparky stood up. “Yes, Miss Jones, it’s the Pacific Ocean.”

“Very good. Sounds like Adam has been tutoring you while you were gone. 

“Yes Ma’am.” Nicky sat down. After going through some geography lessons Miss Jones gave Sparky some addition problems with columns. “Nicky, did Adam help you with addition?”

“Yes, Miss Jones.

“Well, do your assignment then.”

Miss Jones went on to assist some of the older students with their lessons.

“Joseph Cartwright, did you do your reading assignment last night?”

“No Miss Jones. I forgot to take the book home.”

“You will be sure to take the book home tonight and you will also read tonight’s assignment as well. I’m sending a note home with you about this.”

Sparky picked his head up at the sound of his brother’s name and heard what Miss Jones said. His older brother was going to be in big trouble. Papa didn’t like them getting notes home from school.

<<<<>>>>

Ben rode back to the school at lunch time to pick up Sparky. He walked into the schoolhouse.

“I’ve come to take Nicky home.”

“Oh, Mr. Cartwright. Nicky has been tutored well. He is not only caught up with his class, but quite a bit beyond it. I want you to know however your other son Joseph did not do his reading assignment last night because he says he left the book here at school. He will have extra to read tonight along with his regular assignments. I was going to send you a note, but as long as you were already here, I thought I would inform you personally.”

The elder Cartwright walked over to where Little Joe was standing with his friends.  
“Joseph, when you get home tonight I expect you to bring home the reading assignment you missed last night. We will be having a necessary talk about this. Do you understand?”

“Yes Sir.”

The man turned then to his youngest son, “Come on Nicky, we need to get home for lunch. Do you have any assignments you need to bring home?”

“No Papa.”

“Okay.” Ben strode angrily out of the school house with Sparky running to keep up.

The older man mounted and reaching down caught the littlest Cartwright up and hauled him into the saddle in front of him.  
Sparky knew his Papa was not happy with his older brother and so kept quiet on the ride home.

Once they arrived Sparky went up to his room and changed out of his school clothes into play ones. He went downstairs, being careful to not run and went into the kitchen. “Hop Sing, I need to wash up for lunch.”

The little man turned and helped the child wash in the kitchen and then sent him out to the dining room. 

Sparky climbed up onto his cushioned seat and was glad of it. Sitting in school that morning had not been all that comfortable. He watched as his father sat down at the table. He still looked annoyed. 

Hop Sing brought out soup and sandwiches. Ben automatically cut one of the sandwiches in four pieces and put the plate in front of his child. He then absently began to eat his own sandwich and soup.

The little boy ate most of his soup and tried to eat as much of his sandwich as he could. He didn’t want to get his Papa mad at him. 

The older man looked over at the child’s plate and was surprised to see almost three quarters of the sandwich eaten and the soup bowl almost empty.

“You must have been hungry, I know you didn’t eat your breakfast this morning little boy, you’ve eaten almost all of your lunch. Good job.”

Sparky was happy to see his father direct a smile at him and asked, “Papa, may I be excused to go play?”

“Yes. You may.”

The littlest Cartwright had begun to read his father’s moods as well as his brothers and was beginning to learn when to make an extra effort to be good and when he could push his limits. 

<<<<>>>>

When Little Joe returned from school Ben said nothing until they had finished supper. “Joseph, did you bring home all your homework tonight?”

“Yes Pa.”

“Good. You are to go up to your room and get going on your assignments. When you’re finished I want you to come and tell me.”

“Yes Sir.” Little Joe looked strangely at his father. Usually Pa wanted to talk to him about his misbehavior first and then would mete out his punishment. After that he would then send him to his room to finish whatever homework he had to do. He went upstairs and did as his father told him and made sure to do all his assignments and to do them well. He spent the time he had to read both reading assignments. When he had completed everything, he gathered up all his papers and brought them to his father.

Ben was seated at his desk when his thirteen-year-old son brought him his finished assignments. His youngest child had been reading one of the new books that Adam had selected for him as part of his schooling. 

The man looked over his son’s work and was pleased to see him having put forth so much effort. “Where’s the book you were supposed to read?”

“Umm… in my room Pa.”

“Have you read both assignments?”

“Yes sir.”

“Bring the book to my room and wait for me there.”

Little Joe looked at his father puzzled. “Yes Sir.” He went to comply. 

Adam looked up from the book he was reading when he heard his father ask his younger brother to bring the book to him. He knew what was about to happen. Pa had done this to him many times when he had been caught reading when he wasn’t supposed to be. 

When Ben went upstairs, Sparky looked up at his big brother. “Adam?”

“Yes, Sweet Pea?”

“Why does Papa want to see little Joe in his room with his book?”

“Well… if my guess is right he’s about to be spanked with it.”

“What!?” The little boy looked at Adam incredulously.

“Uh huh… Pa used to do that to me when I was younger for reading when I was supposed to be doing chores. It doesn’t tickle.”

His younger brother’s large grey eyes widened and rounded. “You got spanked with a book when you were younger?”

“Yep.”

“I thought you hardly ever got spanked for anything.”

“Not true little brother. I got spanked for lots of things in my time.”

Both of them jumped when they heard the first crack of book connecting with behind.

<<<<>>>>

The next morning Sparky was still in a mood. “I want to drive my pony cart to school Papa.”

“No, you may only drive it when one of your older brothers or myself are around to help you.”

“Little Joe will be riding to school with me. He can help me.”

“No. I don’t want you to have the cart at school. It isn’t necessary.”

“But I want to! No one else at school has one and I do!”

“Exactly why you are not bringing your pony cart to school. No one else at school has one.”

The little boy pouted and his father ignored him.

“Papa, I’m going to get Blaze harnessed to my pony cart and drive to school.”

“Little boy, one more word about this and you and I will be having a very necessary talk about listening to your Papa.”

Sparky began to cry then and carry on. Ben tired of this picked the littlest Cartwright up and turned him over his knee. He administered three hard swats to his son’s backside and said, “Enough Nicholas, one more word about this and you won’t be able to drive your pony cart until Spring and you’ll receive a sound spanking too.”

The youngster knew his Papa was serious and quit while he was ahead. 

<<<<>>>>

The next few days were uneventful. Sparky went to school each morning and Adam, Ben or Hop Sing picked him up at noon. He hadn’t had any tantrums and no notes had come home from school. Little Joe too had behaved since the book incident. He had had a bit of a hard time sitting in class the next day. 

The littlest Cartwright seemed to be settling into the routine of the schoolroom. He seemed to be tolerating the half days better and Ben was thinking about sending the boy all day.  
“Sparky, come over here.” The man indicated the chair by his desk.

The child clambered up on the chair and looked at his Papa expectantly.

“What would you say if I said I wanted you to go to school all day.”

No!” was the immediate reply, said emphatically, without hesitation.

The elder Cartwright had been afraid that that was going to be the response. “Why don’t you want to go all day little one?”

“It’ll be boring.” I can hardly stand being there all morning Papa. I want Adam to teach me.”

Ben sighed, they had been through this all before. Then the thought that had come to him the last time he and Sparky had had this conversation tickled him again.  
“For now, Sparky we’ll keep you at school in the mornings only okay?”

“Yes Papa.”

The man could see the child visibly relax and realized that he had two problems. One was that the boy still wasn’t ready to tolerate a full day at school and the other was that he still believed his brother could be a better teacher than Miss Jones with a full schoolroom of children. “Okay, little boy, you may go back and play now.”

Sparky jumped off his chair and went back to his toys. 

 

Chapter 32

 

When the oldest Cartwright brother came back from the North Pasture Ben called him over to his desk. 

“Adam, we’ve got a problem with Sparky.”

“What is it Pa?”

The man went on to explain how his son thought his older brother was a better teacher than Miss Jones, which they both agreed on in principal, but that Sparky needed to understand that it was only because he and Adam had one on one time. Either they would have to have the child and Miss Jones have some one on one tutoring time, which didn’t appeal to either of them, or they would have to place Adam in the schoolroom and demonstrate to Sparky that even him being a teacher to thirty children could be boring at times. 

The two men put their heads together and then approached Miss Jones with a proposition. She would be given a week’s leave with pay and the oldest Cartwright boy would substitute for her. She could go anywhere she wanted to for the week.  
Abigail decided she would visit her sister in Denver and so was given leave with the Cartwright men sending her off. On Monday Adam announced at the breakfast table, Sparky, Little Joe, Miss Jones was called out of town to her sister in Denver. I will be teaching school for the week as her substitute.”

Little Joe groaned, knowing his brother could be worse than Miss Jones in the schoolroom. 

Sparky’s eyes lit up though. “Papa, if Adam is teaching, may I go to school all day?”

The other boy looked at his little brother in astonishment.

The Cartwright men exchanged glances over the little boy’s head.

“We can try it Sparky, but all the rules you have here at home will be enforced at school.” The oldest brother reminded him.

“You mean if you’re in charge at school you will spank me or put me in a corner or make me write sentences just like at home?”

“Yes.”

“But Adam, Miss Jones isn’t allowed to spank me in school.”

“That’s because Pa doesn’t want her to. He doesn’t mind If I do.”

The older boy could see the child processing this information. 

“Well… okay… but I’ll be good and you won’t have to spank me.”

“We’ll see little boy. The first thing is I don’t think that for the first day I want you to stay all day. We’ll see how this morning goes and maybe tomorrow you may stay all day.”

“That isn’t fair! I want to be in school all day with you!”

“Sparky, did I not hear you say just a minute ago that you were going to be good and I wasn’t going to have to spank you?”

“yes.”

“Well… is what you are doing right now being good?”

“Uma. No.”

“Then today you will stay a half day and we’ll see about tomorrow.”

“yes Adam.”

The Cartwright patriarch smiled to himself. This was certainly going to be interesting.

Little Joe certainly wasn’t happy about the situation. He wouldn’t be able to ride fast to and from school as he did when Adam or Pa weren’t around and he’d have to behave all week as well. His oldest brother wouldn’t hesitate to swat him in school either if he needed it.

The oldest Cartwright boy rode to the schoolhouse with his younger brothers. The two children stayed in the schoolyard with their friends until he came out to ring the bell.

“Ya brother Adam is gonna be our teacher for a week?” Mitch Devlin looked worried. 

“Yeah. I’ll have to be on my best behavior. He’ll swat me faster than Miss Jones.”

“How about Sparky?” Seth Pruitt asked with a grin.

“Oh, he’ll get swatted too if he deserves it. Pa just doesn’t let Miss Jones do it because he doesn’t trust her to not go overboard, but Adam, he’s got permission all right.”

<<<<>>>>

The young man called the school to order. He set the older children to doing a reading assignment, the middle group of children with an arithmetic assignment and then the younger children with a writing assignment. The younger children had never done a writing assignment. “I want you each to write a story on your slate about your favorite animal. It can be a pet or just an animal you like. I want you each to pay close attention to your spelling and to take your time to write your letters well. If you don’t know how to spell a word I will help you to look it up in the dictionary.”

Sparky was stunned. A writing assignment? Adam had never given him one before! He raised his hand.

“Yes Nicky?”

“Adam…”

“It’s Mr. Cartwright in the schoolroom.”

The child was momentarily confused. “Why do I have to call you Mr. Cartwright instead of Adam?”

“It’s a form of respect to your teacher.”

“Oh. Mister Cartwright, I don’t want to write I want to do a reading assignment.”

“Nicholas Cartwright,” the young man said in a stern tone, “You will do the assignment given to you and your grade. All the other children in your grade are doing the same assignment.”

“But I don’t like writing.”

“I understand that, but there are lots of things you don’t like Nicholas Cartwright. I’m very sure one of them is standing in the corner.”

The little boy’s eyes widened and rounded. His big brother was threatening to stand him in the corner? He glanced at Adam and seeing his stern look had no doubt that he would do exactly that and might even give him a swat along with it.  
“Yes Mr. Cartwright.”

“Then get to your writing assignment young man.”

Once Adam saw that Sparky had complied he worked with the middle children on their arithmetic. This included Mitch Devlin, Little Joe, Seth and Randy. 

Sparky was mad. He hated writing. He wrote on his slate:  
I have a pony. His name is Blaze. I like him very much. He is my best friend.

He raised his hand.

“Yes Nicky?”

“I’m done with my writing assignment Mr. Cartwright.”

Adam went over to the little boy and picked up his slate and read what he had written. “I think you can write a little more about Blaze Sparky. Why don’t you write about how you got Blaze and some of the things he has done for you?”

“No! That would take too long!”

The substitute teacher crossed his arms in front of him and eyed his little brother. “No?”

The youngster pouted. “No. I’m tired of writing.”

“If I were you little boy I’d re-think your present attitude.”

Sparky sulked now.

Adam plucked him up out of his seat, walked over to the corner and with a sharp swat to his bottom said, “You will stand in the corner until you decide you will finish your assignment and write the things I have suggested to you.”

The little boy was shocked. His brother had just plucked him up and stood him in the corner and he even swatted him! Tears came to the child’s eyes and he let them slip down his cheeks.

The young man had not felt bad about disciplining his little brother. If he hadn’t he knew exactly where that little scene would have gone and he did not want to have had to deal with a full-blown tantrum. He felt a little bad when he noticed the little mite wiping tears away with the back of his hands, but knew he couldn’t let that affect him maintaining order in his schoolroom. 

Patrick Kelly had been amazed at Sparky’s attitude toward the teacher and when he saw him being plucked up out of his seat and placed in the corner with a hard swat to his backside smiled to himself. So, Nicky Cartwright wasn’t exactly the golden child was he. 

 

Chapter 33

 

When Adam was finished with the arithmetic lesson and had stared down Little Joe who had looked at him accusingly, went over to the littlest Cartwright. 

“Nicky, are you ready to do the assignment you were given?”

Sparky turned around from his corner and looking at his big brother with that stern look on his face said, “Yes Mr. Cartwright.”

“You may return to your desk then.”

The youngster walked back to his desk and shifted a bit on his bottom which still stung a little from the hard swat Adam had landed on it. 

Nicky wrote a new story on his slate then.

My pony’s name is Blaze. My older brother little Joe gave him the name when he found him in a barn where a farmer had left him with no food or water. Little Joe brought him food and water and helped him feel better. When he was able to my brother brought me to the old farm and let me meet Blaze. He helped me learn to ride him and we became good friends. My brother got in trouble with my Papa for teaching me to ride. Then my Papa took away Blaze and I had to be very good for a whole week before he took me to town to choose which pony would be mine. Papa bought me another pony on his way home from a trip he took to Sacramento. He chose Blaze for me and I was very glad. Then he taught me how to ride and I liked it very much. Blaze save me from drowning in the stream last Spring in a flood and he got very sick. My brother Hoss nursed him back to health and now we are very good friends. 

The little boy had asked his older brother to help him with spelling some of the words. He made Sparky look them up in the dictionary so he could learn to spell them correctly. Once he finished the assignment Adam read the story and smiled at him. “Now this is an excellent story Nicky. I want you to read your story out loud to the school.”

Nicky stood up and read his story to the schoolroom. The young man also had the other children do the same with their stories. By then it was time for recess and he let the children out to play.

Patrick came up to Sparky. “Nicky, your brother sure is a tough teacher.”

“Yes, he is.”

“Does he do that to you at home too?”

“Do what?”

Stand you in the corner and give you a swat?”

“Yes.”

“Oh.”

“Why?”

“I thought because you didn’t get swatted or spanked in school you didn’t get it at home.”

“Uh uh, I get more than swatted at home. Papa will give me a good spanking if I deserve it. Adam too.”

Patrick grinned at the other little boy then and Sparky grinned back.

Adam watched his little brother with his desk mate and was glad to see him getting along with other children and not fighting. 

Ben came for Sparky at noon. He looked at his oldest son, “How is it going?”

“I had to swat him and stand him in the corner once this morning because he was going to have a tantrum over a writing assignment I gave him and his classmates.”

“Not bad then.”

“No, better than I thought it would be.”

“What about a full day?”

“Umm… I don’t know Pa, let’s see how tomorrow goes first. He seems to be barely able to handle a morning, no less a full day yet.”

“Okay.”

Ben looked around for his little son and saw him with his desk mate Patrick Kelly. “Sparky, it’s time to go.”

“Okay Papa.”

The child ran up to his Papa. I’m ready to go home.”

The man placed him on top of Blaze and they talked as they rode home. “How did your morning go son?”

“Adam made me stand in the corner and he gave me a swat too Papa!”

“What did you do?”  
“I didn’t want to write my assignment.”

“Did you, do it?”

“Yes. I wrote a story about Blaze.”

“Sounds like you should have had a lot to write about.”

I did. I just didn’t want to, but Adam made me.”

The older man smiled then. “How did your story turnout?”

“It was good. Adam had each of us read the story out loud in front of the school.”

“Sounds like it was very good.”

It was Papa.”

“Nicky, I don’t want you getting stubborn in school just because your oldest brother is your teacher.”

“I’ll try not to Papa. It was embarrassing to be made to stand in the corner and get a swat in front of all the kids. 

“I suppose it was.”

<<<<>>>>

Sparky seemed to tolerate the next morning better than the day before with Adam teaching. The young man worked hard at not favoring his little brother in the classroom. He worked with some of the other children in his class on things Sparky already had been exposed to, but which Adam believed he needed to review. This was boring to him, but the young man made him pay attention anyway. When he tapped his pencil, or swung his feet the older brother reprimanded him for it. 

<<<<>>>>

The third day the child insisted he wanted to stay the entire day at school and Adam allowed it. By noon the young man could see his little brother was more than ready to go home, but because he had promised he could stay prepared for the afternoon aftermath. 

After lunch, he had the younger children do another writing assignment, giving them the topic of whether or not they liked bugs and why. This way the girls could write about disliking bugs if they wanted to. 

Sparky was becoming tired. He listened to Adam’s instructions, then sulked and pouted. He didn’t want to do the assignment. He wrote on his slate, Bugs  
Are nice. I like them because it’s interesting to watch them crawl around.

Adam was working on some Algebra with the older students and had given the middle students a history chapter to read. He glanced over at the younger children. He saw that Sparky wasn’t writing on his slate. He excused himself, giving the older children some problems to solve and went over to the little ones.  
“Nicholas Cartwright, show me your slate.”

The youngster looked up at the stern tone that his brother had used. He handed him his slate. When Adam read what his little brother had written he erased it and wrote at the top of his slate:  
I will do my writing assignment as I was told to. 

He numbered 1-10 down the left-hand side. He handed the slate back to the little boy. “You will write this sentence twenty-five times.”

The child looked up in shocked surprise. Twenty-five times? Adam had never made him write sentences that many times, only Miss Jones had done that! “Ad-Mr. Cartwright… I don’t want to write sentences!”

The young man picked Sparky’s slate back up, eyed him and said, “I will give you a choice little boy. You may write this sentence twenty-five times or you may go over my knee and receive twenty-five swats on your backside. Which will it be?”

The littlest Cartwright was horrified. Twenty-five swats!? His older brother had never done that either!

The little boy gulped. “I’ll write the twenty-five sentences Mr. Cartwright.” He said dejectedly.

Adam handed Sparky his slate and he set to writing his twenty-five sentences. Tears fell as he did this task, but he showed his substitute teacher the sentences each time he completed a set of ten. Once he completed the twenty-five sentences his little hand was hurting. 

“You may now complete your writing assignment Nicholas.”

 

The child looked up at Adam shocked. He was still going to make him write the assignment!? “Mr. Cartwright, my hand hurts now.”

“Well, if you had done your assignment when you were supposed to you wouldn’t have had to deal with a sore hand now would you?”

“No Sir.”

“Then get to it little boy. If you don’t finish it you will have to stay after school to do it.”

Again, the youngster was shocked. His oldest brother wouldn’t keep him after school!? He just wouldn’t do that, would he?!  
When he glanced at the stern face of his brother knew he would do exactly that and perhaps the promised spanking too. He settled down and got to work on his story.

Adam felt a bit bad at being so hard on Sparky, but knew he wanted him to realize having him as a full-time teacher all day long wouldn’t be an easy thing.

By the end of the day Sparky was completely out of sorts. He was teary eyed and sulked and pouted until Adam was forced to give him a few swats and stand him in the corner again. The child was totally embarrassed at having been treated this way and refused to go out for recess sitting at his desk feeling miserable and letting tears course down his little face. The older boy couldn’t stand to see his little brother so upset. Before recess was over he walked over, picked up the littlest Cartwright, wiped his tears and hugged him, holding him in his lap.  
“Sweet Pea, tomorrow you will only be staying a half day again. Being here a full day is too much for you to handle right now baby.”

The little boy didn’t argue. He just snuggled up to his brother’s side and felt safe in his arms. When Adam felt Sparky was calm enough he set him back on his seat and called the children in from recess. Then he gave the younger children a reading assignment, guaranteed he knew to keep his little brother out of trouble for the rest of the school day.

 

Chapter 34

 

That evening the oldest Cartwright brother shared with his father the problems of the day and told him that Sparky would have to go back to half days for a while longer.

All the children were glad to have Miss Jones return the next week. Adam was a good teacher, but a whole lot stricter than the one they were used to. She could mete out harsher discipline, but although the oldest Cartwright boy disciplined less harshly, it was more often. More than one student that week had found themselves with extra homework, writing sentences or staying in from recess with a writing assignment. They also might have received a swat or two and stood in the corner, or kept after school. 

Sparky continued half days and seemed to be handling this pretty well. Miss Jones had been able to shift her teaching style to be certain the little boy received tutoring in all his subject areas. The child wasn’t getting into any trouble with her for tantrums and had not been fighting with other children. His father was very grateful for that. 

One-day Ben went to pick up Sparky and was surprised to see a blue ribbon pinned to his shirt. “Well, son, where did you get that ribbon?”

“I won the spelling bee Papa!” The littlest Cartwright was so proud  
of his ribbon. 

The elder Cartwright smiled and tousled his child’s blonde hair. “That’s very good son. I’m proud of you!”

“Thank you, Papa!” 

“Mr. Cartwright, Nicky has been doing so well lately, I think it’s time we considered him attending school full time.”

“I’ll consider it, but If I decide to do that we’ll be taking it in stages. I’ll start him one day a week and depending on how well he tolerates it I’ll send him two, then three until he’s in school full time.”

“Yes Mr. Cartwright, of course.”

<<<<>>>>

Halloween approached and Ben warned all four of his boys of the consequences of playing pranks.  
Sparky thought about this and decided he would play his pranks in school then. He wouldn’t be playing them on his Papa or his brothers, that way, he would then stay out of trouble. 

The little boy decided he would replace Miss Jones ink with grape juice. It would be funny to see her try to write a note that way. He also decided he would put a bunch of worms in the drawer where she kept the attendance book she took out every morning. 

The youngster’s brothers had no idea what the littlest Cartwright had up his sleeve. He got the grape juice from the store room and put it in his saddle bags. He had gone behind the barn and dug up the biggest ugliest earth worms he could find and placed them in some damp newspaper putting them in his saddle bag. 

The next morning, Little Joe was frustrated with Sparky. He was pushing to get to school early. “Come on Little Joe, I want to get to school!”

He had no idea why his little brother was so keen on getting to school early. When they finally rode up into the school yard the child took his saddle bags into the schoolhouse as he did every day. Miss Jones hadn’t arrived yet and Sparky sneaked the worms into the drawer. Then he picked up her ink bottle and dumped the ink out one of the windows. He carefully filled it with the grape juice and replaced it on her desk. He put his saddle bags by his seat and came back outside to play. 

When school was called to order Miss Jones went into her drawer to get the attendance book and let out a shriek and fainted dead away. 

Sparky began to laugh hard at Miss Jones scream, but was scared when she fell to the ground. He jumped up then along with the other children. The older girls shooed the younger children back and patting Miss Jones cheeks tried to bring her around. Little Joe along with Mitch Devlin and Seth Pruitt saw the worms crawling out of the drawer and collected them, bringing them outside. When the teacher came around she saw the worms were gone and with the girls helping her up sat in her chair for a moment. Once she composed herself she eyed Little Joe, Mitch and Seth.  
“Which of you naughty little boys put those ugly nasty worms in my desk?”

The three boys looked at each other in puzzlement. Miss Jones could tell they were innocent. 

Sparky was feeling very bad about now and spoke up. “I put the worms in your desk Miss Jones.”

Little Joe, Seth and Mitch looked at the littlest Cartwright both in amazement and a bit of pride.

“Nicholas Cartwright! That was a very bad prank you played young man! I’m going to write a note for you to take home to your father!”

“Yes Ma’am.” Sparky then remembered what he had done to the ink and watched in horror as Miss Jones unstoppered the ink bottle, dipped her pen in and began to write.  
The grape juice ran off her pen onto the paper staining it purple. She looked at the mess in shock. Then she looked up at the class. She stood up and eyed everyone.  
“I want to know who tampered with the ink in my ink bottle.”

Again, the children looked at each other in complete bewilderment.

Miss Jones noticed then the look of horror and guilty expression on Sparky’s face. “Nicholas Cartwright, did you do this?”

Nicky flushed red. “Yes, Miss Jones.”

“Nicholas, come up here.” She indicated in front of her desk.  
The youngster did as she asked. 

“Young man, do you think it was funny to scare me half to death with worms slithering out of my desk drawer?”

“Yes, Miss Jones. I didn’t think you would fall down though.”

“You also thought it would be funny for me to try to write with grape juice instead of ink?”

“Yes Ma’am.”

“Well young man, I don’t think you are going to think it’s so funny when your father hears about this. Go stand in the corner!” Miss Jones pointed in that direction. Sparky took himself over to the corner and stood there as requested. 

Miss Jones took her ink well outside and washed it out by the well. She returned and refilled it with the proper ink. She then penned a note to Mr. Cartwright about his son’s little pranks. 

Little Joe felt sorry for Sparky. Pa didn’t hold with playing pranks in school and his little brother was about to learn that lesson the hard way. He did have to admire his creativity. He wouldn’t have ever thought to change the ink in the ink bottle for grape juice. 

At recess Miss Jones made Sparky sit at his desk and write twenty-five times “I will not play pranks in school.”

When Adam came for his little brother at noon Miss Jones told him that Nicky had been very naughty and had a note for Ben. 

The young man raised an eyebrow at the youngster. He’d been so good for some time now that he wondered what had gotten into the little mite.

“Yes, Miss Jones, I’ll let him know.”

Adam helped Sparky to mount Blaze and they headed home.  
“What did you do to get in trouble in school today Sweet Pea?”

“Umm… I played tricks on Miss Jones.”

The older boy raised his eyebrows in complete surprise. “You did what!?”

“I put worms in the drawer where she keeps her attendance book. When she went to get it out she let out a loud scream and fell down on the floor. When she went to write the note for me to take home she couldn’t because I had put grape juice in her ink bottle, dumping out the ink.”

Adam had to suppress his laughter. If nothing else his little brother sure was creative. “You know Pa won’t be very happy about that don’t you little one?”

“Yes.”

They rode into the yard and after helping Sparky put up Blaze they went up to the house. 

Ben was not there still being out at the South Pasture. The brothers ate lunch and then the older boy said, “I’d play for a while if I were you little boy. I’m not sure you’re going to want to once Pa gets home and finds out what you’ve been up to at school.”

“Yes Adam” Sparky played for a while, but feeling bad for the trouble he had gotten into at school and worried about what his father was going to say and do about his playing those pranks, just curled up in Ben’s favorite chair and fell asleep. 

 

When Little Joe came home he put up Cochise. Hoss and Ben came riding in a little while later and began the barn chores. Adam finished up making some repairs to some tack he had been working on.

“Hi Adam, how did things go with Sparky at school today?”

“Well Pa, the little mite got himself into a bit of trouble today.”

“Not fighting, was he?”

“No Sir, more like pranks.”

The older man arched an eyebrow at his son. “Pranks?”

“Yes Pa.”

Little Joe had busied himself quickly filling troughs with feed wanting to be as far away from his father when Adam told him about his little brother.

 

Chapter 35

 

“What did he do?”

“He uh… put worms in Miss Jones’s desk where she keeps the daily attendance book. He also dumped the ink in her ink bottle and replaced it with grape juice.”

Ben wanted to laugh in the worse way. That little boy did have a propensity for creativity. 

“Apparently Miss Jones fainted when she found the worms.”

“Did she get hurt?”

“No, apparently not.”

The older man wasn’t amused anymore. Playing a prank that could have caused injury was not something he would want his child to repeat. “Where’s Sparky now?”

“I suppose in the house. I told him he could play until you came home because after you addressed this playing pranks issue with him he might not feel so much like playing.”

Ben understood his son’s meaning. He sighed. He wondered what had gotten into his little boy’s head that he wanted to play pranks at school. This was the first time he had done so and to his knowledge there had been no pranks played in school yet this year. He glanced over at Little Joe.  
“Little Joe, come over here please.”

The boy walked over to his father. “Yes Pa?”

“Have you and your friends been planning any pranks recently to play at school?”

“No Sir, honest.” Little Joe replied with a horrified look. 

Ben eyed his child. He knew when he said “honest” that it wasn’t exactly the truth.

“Have you and your little friends been talking about planning any pranks of any kind recently?”

The youngster knew he was caught. “Well… we were sort of talking about Halloween coming up and playing some pranks like we did last year.”

“I see.”

“Pa?”

“Yes Joseph?”

“Are you mad at me?”

“No, son. I suppose that I realize your little brother has the ability of hearing something and then taking it to the next step all on his own.”

“Yes Sir.”

“I do want to caution you about playing pranks Little Joe. No pranks that might cause someone else harm is that understood?”

“Yes Sir. I’ll be certain to make sure if we play any pranks for Halloween that they are ones that won’t cause harm to anyone, maybe embarrassment, but not out and out harm.”

“Very good.” The man gave Little Joe a light swat to his behind and went up to the house to deal with the youngest Cartwright.

When Ben went into the house he saw the little mite all curled up asleep in his favorite leather chair. He picked up his child and carried him to his room. Once there, he put him to bed slipping off his shoes and covering him with a quilt. He would check on him in a while.

Sparky stretched and yawned. He was snug in his bed and wondered how he got there. Then he realized Papa, Adam or Hoss had probably brought him up here. Crawling out of bed he put on his shoes, tying them and crept downstairs. 

Ben reading the paper heard his little son creeping down the stairs and when the child was almost across the room heading toward the door he said, “Nicholas, do you have something to give me son?”

Sparky turned quickly startled. He had thought he was being very quiet and perhaps he’d be able to get by his Papa because he was reading the paper. 

The man put down his paper and his child made his way over to his  
Papa. Ben took the little boy by the hand and led him over to his desk.  
“Sit down Nicholas.”

Sparky climbed up into the chair next to his father’s desk. 

“Son, Adam tells me you have a note to give me from Miss Jones.”

The little boy hung his head. “Yes Papa.”

“May I have it please?”

The youngster dug the note out of his jeans pocket and handed it over to his Papa. 

“Little boy, what am I going to find in this note?”  
The child again ducked his head and said nothing. 

Ben called gently, “son?”

Sparky lifted his head then. 

“Sweet Pea, what’s in this note?”

“Umm, Papa, I was very naughty in school today. I didn’t bite Miss Jones though.”

The older man almost laughed at this. “I’m glad to hear that you didn’t do that Nicholas, but I do want you to tell me what you did do.”

The child sighed. “Umm… I put some worms in the drawer where Miss Jones keeps the books she writes in every day.”

“What happened after you put the worms in the drawer.”

“Umm… when she opened the drawer and saw them she screamed and then fell over on the floor. Papa, I didn’t mean for that to happen! I don’t even know how that happened!” Tears began to course down his little face. 

“I see. I’m sure you didn’t know that would happen or how that happened. What else did you do young man?”

“Umm… I poured the ink out of Miss Jones ink bottle on her desk and filled it with grape juice.”

“Why did you do hotbed asked sternly.

“I thought it would be funny if she tried to write a note. She didn’t think it was very funny Papa.”

Again, Ben almost smiled. That had been pretty harmless, but the worms, now, that was a different matter. “Sparky, do you remember what I told you last year when you played those pranks on us at Halloween?”

“Yes Papa, that I shouldn’t do that again and if I did you would spank me.”

“Yes, you are correct.”  
“But Papa, I didn’t play any pranks on you or my brothers or Hop Sing. I didn’t play any pranks at home. I played them at school. You didn’t say I shouldn’t play any pranks at school.”

The older man looked at the earnest face of his little boy. “You are right Nicky, I didn’t say anything about playing pranks at school, but I’m certain you know that Little Joe isn’t allowed to play pranks at school.”

Sparky hung his head again. “Yes Papa.”

“Then, little boy, what made you think you could play pranks at school and not get into any trouble?”

“I just thought it would be all right. I didn’t think about Little Joe not being able to play pranks in school and that you might not want me to do that either.”

Ben wondered if this child was destined to be a lawyer. He was as bad as Adam in trying to wiggle off the hook. “Nicholas, playing pranks of any kind at any place is a risky business. You never know when you might cause someone harm, even though you didn’t mean to. For example, like the time Little Joe put frogs in the drawer with Miss Jones’s poetry book and didn’t realize they would ruin the book.”

The child hung his head now again feeling ashamed.

Ben placed the tip of his finger under his little son’s chin and tipped his face up so he could look at him. “Sparky, I’m not mad that you played these pranks, I am mad that you did them in school and that one of them, the worms could have caused Miss Jones grave injury. What would have happened if when Miss Jones fainted she had broken a bone and was unable to teach school for a while?”

Tears came down the little mites face now. “Papa, I’m sorry. I didn’t know Miss Jones would faint.”

“That’s the risk baby about playing pranks. What you may see as harmless may be harmful in a way you don’t expect.”

“Yes Papa.”

Ben signed the note and handed it back to Sparky.  
“Put this away and don’t lose it. Be sure to give it to Miss Jones when you go to school tomorrow.”

“Yes Papa.”

Ben then took Sparky by the hand. “Come on little one, we’ll take care of the rest of this up in your room.”

Once in the boy’s room the man took the chair out from under his child’s desk and set it in the middle of the room.  
“Come here Nicholas.” The little boy’s father said sternly.

Sparky came over to Ben and taking the little boy by the wrist he hauled him over his lap. 

“Nicky, do you know why you are receiving this spanking?”

“Because I played pranks in school.”

Ben then began Sparky’s spanking. When he was through Sparky was in tears and the man hugged him, and held him until they stopped. 

When Sparky looked up at his father, he said,  
“Papa, I promise I won’t play pranks in school anymore.”

“Very good Sparky.” Ben continued to hold the child until he was calm again and took him by the hand and led him down to supper. 

 

Chapter 36

 

The next day Sparky brought the note to school and gave it to his teacher. “Miss Jones, I’m sorry for playing those pranks on you in school yesterday and promise I won’t do that anymore. Papa spanked me for doing that.”

The woman had to smile at the little boy’s forthrightness. “Your apology is accepted Nicky and I’m sure you won’t do that again.” 

“Yes Ma’am, thank you Miss Jones. I have the note you gave me too, Papa signed it.” He handed over the note to his teacher.  
“Thank you, Nicholas. You may take your seat now.”

<<<<>>>>

The days went on and Sparky adjusted to spending his mornings at school. He won first prize on an arithmetic test for his grade as well as prizes in all his other subjects. The child was top in his class and this made Ben very proud, especially when the other children were attending school full days and his son was only attending half days. 

Just before Thanksgiving Sparky came out from school to meet Adam with a black eye and split lip. Adam was shocked at his appearance. 

“Sweet Pea, what happened to you?”

The little boy flung himself into his oldest brother’s arms. “I was in a fight at recess.” 

The older boy held the child in his arms comforting him. “Do you have a note?”

“Yes.” The youngster dug into the pocket of his coat and fished out his note. 

“Okay, put it back in your pocket. You’ll have to show it to Pa.”

“Yes Adam.”

Little Joe came out about then and ran up to his older brother. “Adam, you shoulda seen it! Sparky beat up Vincent Kelly and he’s twice as big as him!” The boy said with pride. 

“Yes, Little Joe, but not without some consequences of his own.”

The youngster looked at his baby brother’s eye and lip and nodded. He sure didn’t fare well did he?”

“No, and Pa’s not going to be very happy about this either.”

Sparky hid his face in his oldest brother’s shoulder. Miss Jones came out then and seeing Adam tried to smile flirtatiously, but it came off as though she had just sucked on a lemon. 

“Adam!”

Yes, Miss Jones.”

“You be sure to tell your father that Nicholas was the one to start the fight at recess.”

“Yes Ma’am.”

“If I had permission he wouldn’t be able to ride his pony home either. He’d have had a taste of the paddle!”

“Yes, Miss Jones, I’ll be sure to tell my father that as well.”

“Very good.” The teacher turned in a bit of a huff and went back into the schoolhouse. 

Adam looked at his little brother closely. “Sweet Pea, will you be okay riding Blaze, or do you want to ride with me?”

“I want to ride Blaze” Sparky said stubbornly.

The older boy sighed and wondered why he even bothered asking. He should have known his little brother would want to ride his pony. He didn’t want to look like a ‘baby’ to the other kids. He saddled Blaze and helped the little mite to mount with a hand up.  
Sparky was able to get his leg over the saddle and settled in. 

When they arrived at the Ponderosa Adam helped the littlest Cartwright down and let him help with putting Blaze up. When they were through he brought the child into Hop Sing who scolded him soundly in Cantonese while he tended to his eye and lip. 

“Little boy, your Papa will not be happy with you fighting.”

‘I know, but Vincent Kelly was teasing me and he called me a ‘baby’ again.”

“Hop Sing know little one no like being called baby, but going to like Papa’s punishment even less.”

The youngster sighed. He knew that too.

After Hop Sing fixed up the littlest Cartwright he served the soup and sandwiches he had made for Adam and the boy. 

The child ate some, but his swollen lip caused him some pain still and he didn’t eat much. The older boy wasn’t going to force him to either. 

When lunch was over Adam said, Sparky, I think it would be a good idea if you went up to your room and took a nap. You look tired.”

“I’m not tired.”

“Well, you look tired, so we had better put you to bed. 

The youngster sulked and the young man just picked up his small brother and brought him to his room. Once there he slipped doff his shoes and like Pa, laid him on the bed and rubbed his back until he was sound asleep.

<<<<>>>>

When the two men returned from the lumber camp Ben asked, “How did things go with Sparky in school today?”

Adam hated to tell him this after Sparky had been so good in school for so long now. 

“Well, Pa, you’re not going to be very happy with the little one today. He was in a fight at school and ended up with a black eye and swollen lip. Miss Jones asked me to tell you that he started the fight and if she had been allowed to discipline him would have paddled him.”

The elder Cartwright arched an eyebrow at this. “Where is he?”

“I put him down for a nap after lunch. I could see he was tired and hurting too.”

“Okay, I’ll go up and check on the little one.”

Ben mounted the stairs and knocked gently on his child’s door, opening it and looking in. Sparky was sprawled on his stomach on his bed sleeping soundly. The man sat on the edge of the bed and replaced the quilt the little boy had kicked off. He could see is right eye was black and that his lip was still a bit swollen. He wasn’t going to wake him. He just wanted to make sure his son was all right before he talked to him and disciplined him for this.

Ben hated to spank Sparky for this, but he had been warned and he knew the consequences. He would of course find out why he had felt he had to fight first. 

He closed the door and went back downstairs to wait for the little boy to wake up. He picked up the paper and began to read it. 

The two Cartwright boys were taking care of the chores in the barn. Hoss turned to his older brother, “Adam, I wish there was something I could do to help him. I know he hates being called a baby, but getting into a fight over it isn’t the answer.”

“I know Hoss. He’s going to get really hurt one day doing that. I know pa is going to have to spank him again for it, but even that doesn’t seem to make much of a difference.”

The older brother could see the gleam in his younger brother’s eye as he began to think. “Hoss? What do you have going on in that devious mind of yours?”

The boy grinned. “Adam, how much do you love the little mite?”

“Umm… a whole lot of course… what does that have to do with anything?”

“Enough to sacrifice some skin stripped off your hide?”

“Huh? Hoss… what are you thinking?”

“Well, Adam, maybe if Sparky sees you and me fighting because you call me a ‘big dumb old ox’… maybe it’ll scare him enough that he won’t want to do that anymore.”

“Yeah little brother and get us both tanned for it too?”

“Uh huh.”

“Hoss… I’m not too sure about this. It’s been a long time since Pa had to tan either one of us for fighting with each other. He’s sure to know what we’re up to.”

“Yeah, so what’s your point older brother?”

“I’m just not too sure it’ll work, I’m not sure I want to risk my hide for nothing.”. 

“Well, you got a better idea?”

“Well… let me think about it okay?”

“okay, but don’t think too long.”

<<<<>>>>

Sparky woke and stretched. He was a bit sore from the fight. His eye was hurting now and his lip stung too. He sat up on his bed and gingerly touched the hurting areas. He reached down and put on his shoes, tying them. Then he headed downstairs. 

Ben looked up from his paper as he heard little footsteps coming down the stairs. He never marveled at how much his youngest son’s light tread made him think of Little Joe when he was small.  
Sparky was even smaller than Little Joe at that age, but it still made him smile. 

“Hi there Sparky, how do you feel?”

“Hello Papa, my eye and lip hurt.”

“I can see they look pretty sore. Come on down here and sit. I want to talk to you.”

The child came the rest of the way down the stairs. 

His father indicated that he should sit on the oak table across from him. Once Sparky sat himself down Ben looked him over critically. 

“Adam tells me you have a note from Miss Jones to give me.”

“Yes Papa.” The little boy dug the note out of his jeans pocket, now a bit crumpled, giving it to his Papa. 

The man took the note and looked at the littlest Cartwright.  
“Nicholas, what will I find in this note?”

“Umm… that I started a fight with Vincent Kelly. He called me a baby Papa.”

“I see.” Ben opened the note and read it. It told him about the fight and reiterated what Adam had already told him about her wanting to paddle Sparky. The man sighed. He wasn’t quite sure what he was going to do about his son’s propensity for fighting with bigger and older children when they called him a “baby”. 

 

The elder Cartwright got up, went over to his desk, signed the note and refolding it strode back over to his chair. Seating himself, he handed the note back to his son. “Put this away and don’t forget to give it back to Miss Jones tomorrow.”

“Yes Papa.” Sparky standing up for a moment, stuffed the note back into his jeans pocket, then reseated himself on the oak table, looking worriedly at his father, anticipating what might happen next. 

 

Chapter 37

 

The Cartwright patriarch then crossed his arms across his chest and sitting back in his chair, eyed his little boy. “Nicholas, look at me.” 

Once the child was looking at his father with his one good eye, He asked, “Son, what was this fight all about today?”

The youngster tried to look away, “Don’t look away Nicky, look at me and tell me why you got into this fight today.”

“Papa, Vincent Kelly was teasing me at recess. He said I was too small to play with the big boys and that the only reason I didn’t go to school all day was because I was just a little baby. Only big boys get to come to school all day. Babies had to leave at lunchtime. I told him I wasn’t a baby, but he laughed at me. I jumped up and punched him in the eye then and the fight was on. Papa, I held my own! Vincent has a black eye too and I gave him a bloody nose.”

The man sighed, especially hearing the pride in his son’s voice at hitting the older and bigger boy, doing him some damage. “Nicholas, what have I told you about starting fights?”

“Not to.”

“And, what else?”

Sparky hung his head, “That you would spank me for starting fights, but Papa, I didn’t start the fight! He did by calling me a baby!”

“Did Vincent hit you first, Nicholas?”

The little boy again hung his head, “No Papa, I did.”

“Could you have done something else besides hit Vincent Nicholas?”

“Yes Papa, I could have walked away, or told Miss Jones that Vincent was teasing me.”

“Yes, you could have and then avoided having had a fight.”  
The littlest Cartwright looked at the toes of his shoes feeling ashamed now. “Yes Papa.”

“Go on up to your room little one. We’ll finished this discussion there.”

The youngster looked up at his father with a little trepidation. “Papa, are you going to spank me?”

“What do you think son?”

“Yes, you are going to spank me Papa.”

“Then go on up. I’ll be there in a few minutes.”

The little mite trudged back up the stairs to his room. He wondered what he could do to make his Papa not spank him this time.

Ben stayed downstairs and thought about the situation for a time. He could understand the boy’s aversion to being called a baby and he could also understand him feeling a bit of pride at being able to best a boy older and bigger than himself in a fight, but he couldn’t tolerate this. He remembered when Hoss was little how Marie and him had helped him to deal with the children teasing him in school. It had been with consistent praise and punishment. He had learned after a while. The man sighed again. It was hair brush time, but he sure hated the thought of doing it. He went upstairs to his room and after procuring the hairbrush went to his little son’s room.

“Nicky, sit down on your bed for a moment. I have something I want to ask double looked at the child seriously. 

“Yes Papa.” Sparky sat down as he had been instructed.

“Baby, what is it about other children calling you a baby that bothers you so much?” The boy’s Papa asked looking into his child’s good eye.

The little boy ducked his head.

“Sweet Pea, look at me.”

Sparky looked back up at his Papa. 

“I asked you a question son and I expect an answer.”

The child thought for a moment. He had hated being called a baby for so long he really didn’t remember why he hated it so much. He had to think back and finally said quietly, “Papa, the older boys at the Green Backs mine used to taunt me that way. They would hold out a chicken leg or something to eat when I was very hungry and because I was so little and couldn’t get it they would say I was just such a baby.”

Ben felt anger boil up and came to a better understanding of his child’s feeling about the name calling, but knew he still couldn’t allow him to start fights or engage in fighting just because he was called names. “I understand that you were treated cruelly by the older boys at the Green Backs Mine Sweet Pea, but I still can’t allow you to fight others over it. You still will be punished for this. are you ready for your punishment?”

The youngster looked up at his father with sad eyes. “Papa, I’m sorry for fighting. I’ll try to not fight anymore. I haven’t really had a fight with anyone since I had that fight with Ricky Walker back on my birthday.”

Ben thought about this. The child told the truth. He really hadn’t gotten into any fights since that one and he hadn’t started any fights since last December, almost a year ago, when Miss Travis paddled him in the schoolroom for fighting with Christopher Samuels. His fighting wasn’t as often as it had seemed to be, but they were always provoked by another child calling him a “baby”.

“Nicky, you are right. You haven’t started a fight since you fought with Christopher at the Silver Eagle Mine School, but that also was the last time to my knowledge another child has called you a baby until today.”

“Yes Papa.”

The man took his hand and cupped the little boy’s chin, tipping his sad little face up to see into his one good eye. “Nicky, you will have to work harder at not hitting other children when they call you a name. I used to punish your brother Hoss for fighting because the kids at school called him names too.”

“Really Papa?”

“Yes baby, and I punished him the way I’m about to punish you now.”

“What do you mean Papa?”

“I’m going to spank your bottom, then finish with the hair brush.”

Sparky looked at him “Papa, you’re not supposed to do that. I’m still pretty little you know, Hoss was a whole lot bigger than me at my age.”

Ben almost smiled at the child’s logic. “If you’re big enough to start a fight, then you’re big enough to get this kind of a spanking.” He said, not unkindly.

The child looked down at the floor, then imploringly at his Papa. He tried again, “Papa, can’t I have one more chance? If I hit someone for calling me a baby again you can give me a sound bare bottom spanking with the hair brush.”

The elder Cartwright studied his son. He tried to decide if the little boy was truly earnest about changing this behavior, or if he was trying to get out of his punishment. The little tyke kept eye contact with his father, with his one good eye. 

“Nicholas, I don’t usually make bargains with my children, but this one time I’m going to, after some consideration, grant you yours. I will still be giving you a spanking, but not with the hairbrush. I’m willing to give you another chance. If there is one more time that you start a fight with another child for calling you a baby you will receive a spanking with the hairbrush on your bare bottom is that clear?”

The littlest Cartwright gave his father a small smile. “Yes Papa, thank you.”

Ben then took the child by his wrist, turned him over his knee and spanked him soundly with his hand. Little Sparky cried because the spanking still hurt pretty good, but was grateful to not have to feel the fiery bite of the hairbrush. 

 

Chapter 38

 

When Ben was through he hugged the little mite close to him and soothed him until the tears stopped and he breathed again normally. “Are you okay now son?”

“Yes Papa.” Sparky stood and rubbed his well warmed behind.  
The elder Cartwright tousled his hair and thought how cute the little one looked rubbing his bottom. “Remember Nicholas, no more starting fights just because someone calls you a baby, right?”

“Yes Papa.”

<<<<>>>>

At supper that night Adam, Hoss and Little Joe all wondered why their little brother looked so happy. They also noticed he wasn’t sitting too uncomfortably on his cushioned seat either, but made no mention of it as they knew better than to question him in front of their father. 

Later, Hoss pulled the little mite aside. “Sparky, come out ta the barn with me, I want to talk ta ya.”

“Yes Hoss.” 

The older boy helped him into his coat, now that the nights were quite cold and walked with him to the barn. They could see their breath in the air and the young man thought he could smell snow on the way. 

“Hoss, are you mad at me?”

“No Sweet Pea, I’m a little disappointed in ya because ya started a fight, but I’m not mad at ya.”

When they got to the barn the older brother picked up the little mite and sat him on a hay bale. Sparky winced and wriggled a bit and Hoss was glad to notice the little mite hadn’t gotten off scot free, but had at least received a good spanking from Pa, although not quite the one his father had planned for the little one. 

“Sparky, I imagine Pa wasn’t too happy with ya starting that fight in school today.”

No, he wasn’t.”

“He spanked ya didn’t he?”

“Yes, but not like he wanted to. He’s giving me one more chance to not start a fight because I get called a baby.”

The older boy raised an eyebrow at this. It was rare that one of them could talk Pa out of their punishment. Usually it was because the one being punished could convince their father that somehow, they weren’t at fault or to blame for the situation. “What kind of bargain did ya strike up with Pa?”

“I got him to agree to not spank me with the hairbrush with the promise that if I started a fight with anyone who calls me a baby again he could spank me with the hairbrush and my pants will come down.”

“Gee Sparky, making a bargain like that with Pa is like making one with the devil!” 

“What do you mean Hoss?”

“I mean that ya had better keep ta ya part of this bargain because Pa sure will and he won’t forget either.”

“I fully intend to keep to it.”

“Good luck little brother, there won’t be a reprieve ifn ya mess up now.”

“I know that.”

“Good, because I can guarantee little brother that getting a necessary talk with that hairbrush with your pants down, won’t be an experience ya’ll care to repeat.”

“I know, that’s why I made the bargain with Papa. The last time he spanked me with the hairbrush after the time when I took off to the Silver Eagle mine on my own taught me that it hurts a whole lot.”

“Well, Sparky, we need ta talk then about how ta help ya not get that hairbrush then.”

“You can help Hoss?”

“Yep.”

“What can I do?”

“Well, there are several things ya can do and ya need ta practice them.”

“What are they?”

d

“What will that do?”

“Give ya time to decide if ya really want ta get that promised spanking with the hairbrush.”

“Oh. What if I count to ten and I’m still feeling mad?”

“Then count ta twenty and continue until ya not mad anymore.”

“Hmm… What else can I do Hoss?”

“Well, ya can take several deep breaths. Ya know, like Pa makes ya do after ya get a spanking and are crying so hard ya can’t really breathe well?”

“Umm… uh huh. I remember Papa telling me to do that and when I do it helps me to calm down.”

“That’s the trick Sparky. If ya can calm down ya anger, then ya won’t be likely ta hit anyone.”

“Okay, I’ll try those things and see if it helps.”

“Well, I suggest ya do more than try little brother, I suggest ya practice these things until ya can do em real good.”

“Okay.”

Hoss reached out then, picked up the little mite and hugged him. Then he gave him a couple of light swats to his still tender bottom.

“Ouch” Sparky winced. 

The older boy eyed him. “Just do as old Hoss says little one and ya won’t have a sore bottom ta have ta contend with ya hear?”

Sparky smiled at his large older brother. “Yes Hoss.” He hugged his older brother around the neck. 

The young man hugged him back and put him down and they walked back up to the house together. 

<<<<>>>>

Thanksgiving Day dawned bright and sunny. Although there was snow on the ground, it wasn’t going to prevent the guests from getting to the Ponderosa. The first to arrive were The Walker and Samuels families. Shortly afterward, the Devlins and Pruitts came with Doc Martin, Roy Coffee, Lem from the livery and Sam the barber. Jim and Sarah Hicks then came into the yard with their sleigh. It wasn’t too long after their arrival that John from the blacksmith shop, along with Jake and Sally Robbins pulled up, the last to arrive. 

Ben greeted his guests with a smile and a jovial mood. It was a great contrast to the scene a year ago when everyone thought little Sparky was lost to them forever. They fervently hoped there were to be no more unexpected surprises in this family’s future and were very grateful that the little family of all males was able to stay intact, especially after the incident with the littlest Cartwright being swept downstream in a flood and is natural father showing up out of nowhere claiming him and taking him away. 

Sparky continued to have a wary eye out for Ricky walker. He was five now, a year younger than him, but the size of a seven, almost eight-year-old. Gregory at age 8 was the size of at least a ten or eleven-year-old child and Christopher was just his right size at age 7. Sally Robbins also seven was even bigger than the little boy and this rankled him a bit. He wished he would grow sometime. He was really getting tired of all his friends being bigger than him and thereby being able to do things he was physically unable to do yet. They could saddle their own mounts, climb trees and do all manner of things he just didn’t have the strength or stature to do. Sparky was also still recovering from the serious illness he had had back in the late spring when he lived with his father. He was just now putting on a little more weight and surpassing his size of last March. He had grown about another inch, but wasn’t enough to make much difference in his clothes. All Hop Sing had had to do was to let down the hems of his jeans and suit pants a little. 

 

Once all the children got together they all decided to go outside and play in the snow. Adam and Pete Devlin supervised the younger children building forts. Hoss and Brian Walker helped with this project. Little Joe, Mitch Devlin, Seth Pruitt and Danny Walker joined forces and began to make their snowball ammunition. Sparky, Gregory, Christopher and Sally Robbins decided they would fight against the other boys. Ricky Walker wanted to be in with the group, but didn’t want a girl to be playing with them and complained loudly.  
“Why does Sally get to play with the boys when she’s nothing but a dumb old girl!” It should be boys only!”

Sparky looked with dislike at the younger boy. “If you don’t behave and let Sally play, you won’t be able to play with us.” The little boy said hotly. 

“I am behaving, I haven’t tried to push you down once today.”

“You better not Either or your Pa will spank you for it.”

“You better shut up Sparky, or I will push you down!”

“Try it you bully. It’ll be your backside that will end up being sore, not mine!”

Hoss hearing the two little boys arguing stepped over there. “What’s going on here?”

“Sparky and the others won’t let me be in the battle with them. I think I should be able to, because I’m a boy and Sally is a girl and she should be made to stay out!”

Nicky spoke up then, “The only reason we told him that is because he doesn’t want Sally to play just because she’s a girl!”

Hoss eyed Ricky Walker. “Uh uh little boy. There’s no difference if ya a girl or a boy here. Everyone gets a chance ta play.”

The other youngster pouted. “Okay, I’ll just go off and play by myself!”

“Suit yaself little boy. Just don’t be getting into any trouble ya hear?”

The youngster wandered off on his own to another part of the yard.

All the children geared up for the snowball fight. 

Ricky found a small rock and picking it up decided he’d get back at Sparky all right. He carefully packed snow around the rock, packing it hard. He did this with several snowballs and then equipped with his own arsenal joined in the fray once it began. 

The boy had made snowballs without rocks in them as well, but saved the special ones to throw at Sparky. 

The first one he threw he hit Sparky in the back with.  
“Ouch!” He cried. He hadn’t seen where that had come from and promptly turned to get another snowball in the side. He turned back to throw back at the assailants. The next one of Ricky’s special snowballs caught Nicky on his left butt cheek. It stung like a bee. “Ouch! He rubbed the stinging area. “Who threw that? That hurt!” No one owned up to it and the little boy turned again to enter into the fray. 

Sparky got hit with a couple of more of the other boy’s special snowballs getting hit in the right butt cheek and then on his left arm. Just as Ricky threw his last special snowball Sparky turned and this one hit him in the face splitting open his right cheek. 

The little boy’s howl stopped everything dead. “Owwww!” He clapped his hand over his cheek and blood was running down from between his face and mitten.

Adam was quickly at his little brother’s side as tears coursed down mixing with the blood.

“What happened Sparky?”

“Ricky has been throwing snowballs at me. Some of them stung because he threw them really hard at me. This one really hurt!”

The older boy looked down near his little brother’s feet and saw a small rock. As he looked around he saw several small rocks scattered around on top of the snow. He knew now what the other child had been doing. He had been throwing rock laden snowballs at Sparky. Adam grew angry. He counted to ten, not wanting to hurt Ricky Walker. His baby brother  
Saw the angry look on the young man’s face and then he watched as he saw him take several deep breaths and calm himself. Nicky realized Adam was doing the things Hoss had told him to practice doing to calm himself when he was angry. He looked curiously at his big brother. 

 

Chapter 39

 

Adam took his little brother, scooped him up and carried him into the kitchen.  
“Hop Sing, Sparky has gotten hurt. He got a cut on his cheek. No one realized that Ricky Walker was throwing snowballs with rocks in them at him.”

“Very naughty boy!”

“Yeah and his father’s going to know about this right now!”

The young man strode out of the kitchen and into the great room. He stood right in front of Mr. Walker. Ben looked up startled at his oldest son’s agitated entrance. 

Barry Walker looked up into the boy’s eyes which were blazing with anger. “What is it Adam?”

“Mr. Walker, I don’t mean any disrespect, but if you don’t keep a better eye on your son Ricky I swear I’m going to do that boy’s backside some serious damage!”

The other man sighed. “What has he done now?”

“He got annoyed because Sally Robbins was playing with Sparky, Gregory and Christopher. He went off and made snowballs with rocks in them which he proceeded to throw at Nicky only. He wasn’t satisfied with probably leaving several painful bruises on him, he had to be sure that my little brother caught a rock in the face, splitting open his cheek!”

Both men were shocked. They knew Ricky would push Sparky down a lot of the time, but this, this was totally unacceptable. He could have put the little boys eye out. 

Barry rose to his full six-foot six height and pulling on his coat asked, “Is he still outside?”

“I think so.”

The large man strode outside and seeing his youngest son still playing with the other children strode over and picked him up around the waist, landed a hard swat to his behind a headed for the barn. 

<<<<>>>>

Ben quickly made his way into the kitchen to see Hop Sing patching up Sparky’s face. Tears were still coursing down his son’s little face. Seeing the Chinese man was finished with his ministrations, he scooped up the child into his arms. “Does it hurt much little one?”

“Yes Papa. I have bruises on my bottom, one on my back and one on my arm too. Hop Sing has treated them, but, they hurt!”

Ben cuddled his child being careful to not press on any of his bruises. He didn’t know how he was going to approach this, but if Ricky Walker continued to harm Sparky like this then he wasn’t going to be able to allow the child to be around his son any longer. “Do you want to go back outside and join the others again, or go upstairs and lie down for a while?”

“I want to go back outside and play Papa. I’m okay.”

The man smiled down at is little boy. “Okay, then you go back outside and play.”

Ben, smiling, turned the Littlest Cartwright and with a little push headed him toward the kitchen door. 

<<<<>>>>

Barry walked into the barn carrying his now crying son. He pulled the door closed and headed to the back. He sat down and pulled Ricky over his knees. Then, with the boy in this vulnerable position took several deep breaths to calm himself. He did not want to discipline his child in anger. He slipped off his belt and laid it next to him on the hay bale. This child was going to get a taste of the strap today for this. He wouldn’t tolerate him picking on smaller children and especially when he singled out Sparky for this treatment. 

Ricky was crying hard by now and his father reached under his child and unfastened his jeans and pulled them down along with his under drawers to expose his backside. “Richard, do you understand why you will be getting this spanking?”

“Please Papa, don’t spank me bare!”

“I asked you if you understood why you are getting this spanking, I’m your Papa and I will decide how it will be done.”

“Please don’t spank me Papa, Sparky wouldn’t let me play with him!”

“That’s not what I heard young man. I heard you didn’t want to play because Sally Robbins was playing with the other boys.”

Barry brought his very large hand, which covered the boy’s bottom down hard.

“Oww!”

“Now, young man, tell me why you are getting this spanking!”, 

Ricky got out through his tears, “B-because I hit Sparky with a snowball and cut his cheek!”

The big man brought his hand down hard again.

“Owww!”

“You packed a rock in the middle of the snowballs you threw at Sparky and that’s how he got cut didn’t you?”

The little boy wailed as another sharp smack landed on his backside “Owww! Yes Papa!”

The youngster’s father said no more just set to the task of giving his child the sound spanking he deserved. When he was through he picked up his belt. “Richard, you will not do *anything* again to hurt Sparky or what I am about to do will be the entire spanking I give you!” Barry gave the little boy 5 stinging smacks on his bare bottom with the belt. He did not use full force, just enough to sting and leave a red mark on his bottom.

“Owwwwwww!” Ricky wailed as the first smack landed. 

 

When the man was through he rubbed his son’s back and comforted him. “We won’t have a repeat of this again will we Ricky? 

“No Papa.”

Barry adjusted the child’s clothing and the little boy began to cry again as this action hurt.  
The man hugged his son and comforted him until he was no longer crying and breathing normally again. “You will apologize to Sparky and then to Mr. Cartwright. Do you understand?”

“Yes Papa.” The little boy replied rubbing his now very sore behind.

<<<<>>>>

Adam had gone outside to supervise the rest of the snowball fight when he knew Sparky was back outside playing. He saw Mr. Walker and Ricky leaving the barn and noticed with satisfaction that the child was walking very stiffly. He watched warily as they approached his baby brother and moved in a bit closer.

“Sparky, Ricky has something he’d like to say to you.” Barry gave the boy a little push so he stood in front of him. The man was at the ready in case his child didn’t apologize appropriately to land a hard swat where it counted. 

The youngster being very aware of this looked at the other little boy. “Sparky, I’m sorry for throwing snowballs with rocks in them at you.”

“Your apology is accepted Ricky. Just don’t do that again. That really hurt.” Nicky said with a big sigh and a few tears leaking out of those large grey sad eyes.

“I promise I won’t.”

“Okay” Sparky stuck out his hand to shake the other little boy’s. Ricky shook hands with him.

“Would you like to continue to play with us as long as you don’t throw any more snowballs with rocks in them?”

Barry stepped in on this. “I don’t think so Sparky. RICKY IS BEING RESTRICTED TO THE HOUSE FOR THE REST OF THE DAY AND WILL ALSO BE DOING SOME CORNER TIME.”

“YES SIR.”

The other little boy looked sad at this pronouncement from his father, but with his bottom still throbbing decided not to protest. 

Once inside Barry propelled his son so he was standing in front of Mr. Cartwright. 

Ben glanced up and saw the boy’s red puffy eyes and knew the man had disciplined his child.

“Mr. Cartwright, I’m sorry for hurting Sparky.”

“Son, your apology is accepted. I have to say that if this happens again, or anything that ends up with my son being hurt by something you’ve done to him, I won’t allow you to come here anymore or Sparky to come to your house anymore either.”

Barry was a little shocked by this, but understood. 

Ricky looked quite remorseful. Then the little boy to the surprise of both men piped up, “Mr. Cartwright, if you want to spank me too for this I’d deserve it.”

Ben looked the large child over and his father glanced at him, giving him a slight nod, which signaled to Ben that he had his permission to do it if he felt it was warranted. 

“Ricky, didn’t your Papa spank you for hurting Sparky?”

“Yes Mr. Cartwright. 

“Why would you want me to spank you?”

The little boy looked up at him with big brown eyes. “So, you won’t be mad anymore and let me continue to come here and for Sparky to be able to come to our house.” 

The elder Cartwright smiled. “I don’t think that will be necessary young man. I’m sure your bottom is sore enough.”

The little boy blushed this time. “Yes Mr. Cartwright.”

Barry said, “I’m going to give this little one some corner time now.”

“Okay,” Ben indicated the corner he used for his own little boy. Then he turned the boy and gave him a hard swat that made him plaster his hands to his backside and rub vigorously.  
“Oww!”

The large man brought his son over to the corner and made him stand there until he thought that he’d served enough time. Then he made him sit next to him on the sofa. 

“Oooh! Papa, my bottom hurts!” Ricky whined.

“Well, if you don’t want it to hurt more then I suggest you just deal with it, sit still and stop whining.”

Ricky in misery did just as his Papa asked. 

 

Chapter 40

 

After a while the other children tired of their war and they all came trooping in cold and wet. 

Hop Sing stepped out. “All get wet things off and hang on hooks, then come to table. Hop Sing has hot chocolate and cookies for everyone.”

Ricky went to jump up to join them, but was held back by a stern hand. “Not for you little boy. You just sit here like you’ve been told.”

Tears coursed down the child’s face, but his father ignored them. 

Linda turned, not looking as she knew her husband was right to restrict the boy from the fun the other children were having because of his misbehavior.

When the littlest Cartwright had finished his cookies and hot chocolate Linda called him to her. “Sparky, baby, come on over here. I want to see you.”

The little boy ran over to her and climbed into her lap and gave her a hug. She was the closest thing he had had to a mother and Ben did not begrudge the child his relationship with her. 

She cuddled the youngster in her lap and brushed his hair back from his forehead. She gently touched the bandage on his face. “Does it  
Still hurt Honey?”

“Some, but not as bad as before.”

She gave the child a kiss on his forehead. “I’m sorry that Ricky did that to you baby, he won’t be doing anything to hurt you again I promise.”

“How do you know Mrs. Walker?”

She just smiled. “Don’t worry baby, I know. Mama’s have their ways.”

Sparky wondered about this, but decided it was best not to ask. He cuddled in against her breasts and snuggling tight relaxed. She rubbed his neck and back and before long the little boy was sound asleep on her shoulder.

Ben seeing this said, “I’ll take him upstairs Linda if you like.”

“No Ben, leave him. He doesn’t weigh much and I enjoy having him snuggle.”

“Okay.”

Mary Devlin, Nancy Pruitt, Joyce Samuels and Sarah Hicks all moved closer to Linda. They chatted while the little boy slept on her shoulder all forming a protective barrier around the woman and child. 

Ben seeing this grinned to himself. His son wasn’t going to be any better protected than at this very moment by these five women. 

Ricky glanced over at Sparky sitting and sleeping in his mother’s lap and felt jealous. Barry seeing the look his child was giving the other little boy said, “Don’t even think about it young man, you lift your little behind off this sofa before you have permission to and you’ll find it being smacked again.”

The youngster pouted knowing his father meant what he said. 

The big man, seeing him pouting eyed him until the child stopped, not wanting another session over his father’s knee. 

Mitch, Little Joe, Seth Pruitt and Danny Walker got down on the floor in the corner of the great room and got Little Joe’s soldiers and played noisily for a while. Sally Robbins, Gregory Walker and Christopher all sat on the hearth playing word games and guessing games, led by Adam. Pete, also played along. Hoss and Brian Walker played checkers. The men all talked together and the family was content. 

Hop Sing got everything ready for the feast they would have. He set up a table for the younger children and knew the littlest Cartwright would probably not eat much so he made sure to set a plate at Ben’s place for him to feed the little one. 

When all was prepared Hop Sing announced that the meal was to be served. Linda shifted the sleeping child in her arms and gently shook him. “Sparky baby, time to wake up. It’s time for us to eat.”

The little boy slowly opened his sleep laden eyes and snuggled up closer. “Tired.” He mumbled into her breast. 

“Come on Sweetheart. If you’re still tired after you eat I can take you upstairs and put you down for a nice long nap.”

The youngster came more awake at this and stretched, yawned and said, “I’m not that tired Mrs. Walker.”

She smiled at him then and just squeezed him and brought him into the kitchen to wash his hands and face, careful of the bandage on his cheek.

When they came out from the kitchen Linda handed the boy over to his father. 

Sparky pouted as Ben took him into his lap. “Papa! I’m not a baby! I don’t have to be carried around and sat in your lap to eat just because I’m small! I’m six-years-old Papa!”

The older man just smiled. “Well, Nicky, when you can eat enough on a regular basis to satisfy me then you won’t have to sit in my lap and be fed. I know for a fact that if I let you sit with the other children you’ll play around with your food and not eat hardly anything. You can’t expect to grow and become strong when you don’t eat enough.”

The little boy sulked, swinging his feet and not looking at his father or anyone else. Ben tipped up his son’s chin and looked directly into those large grey eyes. “Nicholas, if you don’t stop this pouting and sulking you and I can go to your room and have a very necessary talk.”

Sparky’s eyes widened and rounded at this and he said, “I’m sorry Papa, I’ll be good.”

“Good. I’m glad. It’s Thanksgiving and I’d hate to have to discipline you today.”

When all was ready, the Cartwright patriarch, setting his son on his feet, stood and gave the blessing. Afterward, he sat Sparky back in his lap. Then everyone began to eat. 

Nicky saw Ricky sitting with the other children, even if he was squirming because his bottom was sore. He still couldn’t understand why he wasn’t being allowed to sit with them too. 

Ben seeing his child glance toward Ricky sitting with the other children just said, “Sweet Pea, eat.” He fixed a plate for the youngster and sitting him on his knee allowed him to eat off his own plate at the table. The little mite was grateful at least for this little concession. He wasn’t going to feed him his whole dinner like a real baby. He made a valiant effort to eat as much of his plate as he could. Ben seeing this smiled to himself. He probably wasn’t going to have to feed him any extra food if he ate most of what had been on his plate. 

When Hop Sing brought out dessert He glanced at the elder Cartwright and Ben shook his head slightly letting him know he may serve the little boy dessert. When they were all finished Sparky felt very full. He had eaten quite a bit more than he was accustomed to and felt a little sick to his stomach. His father glanced at his little boy and noticed his face had a funny look. “Sparky, are you feeling all right?”

“Papa, I think I ate too much. I feel sick.”

The man picked up the little boy and brought him up to his room. He laid him down and unfastened his jeans, pulling them off. 

“Papa! Please don’t spank me! I didn’t do anything wrong!”

“Son, I’m not going to spank you. If I’m going to spank you I either make you take down your own jeans or I take them down after you’re lying across my knees, right?”

The youngster thought about this for a moment and realized it was true, if Papa was going to spank him bare he’d only slide his jeans down, not completely off. 

“I’m only taking your jeans off so they won’t press against your tummy because it’s so full. I’m going to have you lay down for a while and rest, after a bit your stomach will feel better and you can get dressed again okay?”

“Okay.

The little boy’s father pulled the chamber pot out from under the bed. If you feel like you need to get sick, then do it in the chamber pot. If you get a tummy ache and have to use the pot it’s right here okay?”

“Okay Papa.”

Ben then sat on the edge of the bed and rubbed the child’s back until he was fast asleep. Then, closing the door went back to his guests.

 

Chapter 41

 

Everyone looked up at Ben when he walked into the room. “He’s fine, just ate a little too much and had a stomach ache. He’s asleep now.”

“Good, I was worried there for a moment.” Linda Walker said. 

As the afternoon drew to a close their guests began to leave. 

The elder Cartwright saw each and every one of his guests off and was happy to see them all having enjoyed their stay. 

Linda Walker pulled the man aside before they climbed into the sleigh with the Samuels. “Ben, I want you to know that when I get back home I will be having a very serious talk with Ricky. He will be getting a taste of my hairbrush as I plan to teach him a lesson he won’t soon forget about hurting Sparky.”

“Linda, he was already punished by your husband.”

“I know that, but a mother’s special touch sometimes is more meaningful to a boy than their father’s. That hairbrush will be getting a good work out and he won’t be sitting for a bit either.”

“Well, Linda you do what you think is necessary.”

“Oh, I fully intend to. You give that little one a hug and a kiss for me. I’m not going to allow Ricky to spoil things for Sparky. If we can’t see that child anymore or him us, especially me because of my son’s behavior, I won’t stand for it. Sparky is very precious to me and me to him too.”

Ben understood. “Well, Linda, whatever you can do to help the situation would be appreciated.” 

When everyone had said their good byes and left Ben went upstairs to check on his little one. 

The child was still asleep and his father just changed him into his nightshirt and giving him, a kiss tucked him in for the night. It had been a long day for the little boy and he still got very tired when he did too much.

<<<<>>>>

When Linda Walker got home she went up to her husband. “Barry, I don’t want any interference on this. I’m going to be teaching our son Ricky that hurting Sparky will never be a good idea again. He’s going to be one sore little boy when I’m through.”

The man looked at his wife who had a very determined look on her face. “Okay honey. You do what you think is best.”

“All right, why don’t you take the other boys and go do something with them for a while.”

Barry took the three older boys with him in the sleigh to show them a really interesting ice display he had noticed. When Ricky begged to go too he told him, “You young man are still being punished for your behavior at the Ponderosa today. You’ll be staying with your mother.”

When the youngster began to cry and whine his father gave him a sharp swat and Linda came out and picked up the little boy and brought him into the house. 

Barry took off with the boys and Linda was by herself with her little son. 

The woman went into her room and brought out the hairbrush. She sat on a kitchen chair and looked at her son. “Ricky, come over here. You and I are going to have a little talk about you hurting Sparky.”

“Mama, I promise, I won’t do that anymore.”

“Young man, you promised that before, but you still hurt him anyway. This, my son, will be the last time.”

<<<<>>>>

When Barry returned all was quiet and he breathed a sigh of relief. The other boys went to their beds and the man came over and coming up from behind hugged his wife and kissed her ear affectionately. “Well, is he still alive?”

“All but one part of him. He won’t be sitting down comfortably for a few days probably.”

“Well, if he learns something out of it I guess it was worth it.”

“Oh, I’m pretty sure he learned something all right. I’m pretty sure he will think twice before trying to do anything that will hurt Sparky again.”

Barry smiled then and kissing Linda led her to their bed.

<<<<>>>>

When Sparky woke the next morning, he hurt. His bottom ached from the bruises there from Ricky hitting him with the rocks. His back hurt too as well as his arm. His cheek also stung and he was out of sorts. 

When Ben came in and poured his son’s water to wash Nicky refused to get out of bed. “I hurt and I don’t want to get out of bed Papa.”

This surprised the man. His little son usually wanted to show how tough he was, not just avoid the world. Ben sat down on the bed next to him and pulled the little mite onto his lap. For six-years old Sparky was only as big as a four-year old and fit very well in his Papa’s lap.  
“What’s the matter baby?”

“Nothing Papa, I hurt and I’m tired.”

Ben touched the child’s forehead. He had no fever.  
“Sweet Pea, why don’t you let me help you to get dressed and you can have some breakfast and maybe you’ll feel better.”

The child just shook his head no and snuggled into his Papa’s side with big tears running down his little face. 

The man just cuddled his son. When Sparky stopped crying he helped him wash, then get dressed and brought him downstairs for breakfast. He gently placed him on his cushioned seat and getting him up close to the table put some food on his plate. 

The older boys coming down looked at their little brother and could tell he was out of sorts. He wasn’t his usual bouncy exuberant self.  
“Sparky, do you want to come down to the barn with me after breakfast?”

“No thank you. I think I’ll just stay in the house.”

“You don’t even want to come down and see Blaze?”

“No, not today.”

The older boy looked concerned now and after they ate, the youngster making a valiant effort, he picked up his little brother off his cushioned seat, tickled him and tossed him up into the air. 

“Adam! Stop” Sparky cried. 

“Why?”

“You’re hurting me!”  
The oldest brother immediately stopped again concerned. He looked at his Pa. “Should we let Hop Sing look at him again?”

“No son, I think his back and arm are hurting along with his bottom. It’s making him cranky.”

<<<<>>>>

For the next few days Sparky was out of sorts, crying for apparently no reason, not eating well, and having nightmares.  
On Monday Adam decided he would ride to school along with Little Joe and Sparky. He wanted to let Miss Jones know that his baby brother was still a bit out of sorts and to be patient with him. 

Sparky sat at his desk wincing and squirming a bit, trying to find a comfortable position to sit when there wasn’t one. 

Adam spoke to Miss Jones in low tones and she nodded her understanding. The young man hunkered down next to his little brother’s desk. “Nicky, I want you to behave yourself, do everything Miss Jones tells you to, okay?

“Yes Adam” Sparky said in a dejected voice. 

“I’ll be back for you at lunch okay?”

The child looked up at him with tear filled eyes, “Okay.” Then he flung himself into his oldest brother’s arms and cried hard. Adam wondered if he should just take him home right now, but decided he’d leave him and hoped he would work out his problems. He hugged the little mite, wiped his eyes and told him, “Nicky, come on now. Try not to cry anymore. I’ll be back for you at noon okay?”

Sparky nodded his head and the older boy tousled his hair, then left the schoolroom. 

The little boy was very compliant in the school room and when Adam came for him was ready to come home.

This went on for a few more days. It didn’t matter who came for him he was subdued and dejected. 

Ben was getting a bit worried. He had no idea what was putting his child into this sad mood. They all made a special effort to do things with the little mite, play with him and talk to him.

One-day Hoss picked up the little one. “Sparky, ya and me, we’re going for a ride.”

“Where are we going?”

“Ya’ll see little brother. Do ya want ta ride with me or on ya own pony?”

“I’ll ride Blaze.”

Hoss saddled up the little pony and gave Sparky a hand up. Once  
the little boy was settled he clucked to Chubb and they rode off through the snow. There had been a recent thaw and so the lower trails were passable, even for the little pony. Hoss led Sparky through a wandering trail and pulled up at what looked like an overgrown patch of thickets. He stopped and dismounted. He tied Chub to a bush and then helped his little brother down from Blaze, instructing him to tie his pony to a similar bush. Once Sparky had accomplished this task Hoss took him by the hand and led him into the hidden mouth of a cave.

The little boy’s eyes grew large and round. He stopped dead at the entrance.  
“Hoss, is this a mine?”

“No Sweet Pea, it’s a cave.”

“It looks like a mine.”

“Well, its similar, but it’s made of all rock. Come on, I want ta  
show ya something.”

As Hoss took the child’s hand he felt a little twinge in his own backside. If Pa knew he had brought his baby brother up here he’d tan him still, but… it would be worth it if he could move the child out of this sad mood.

The older boy lit a lantern he knew would still be near the mouth of the cave. 

“Hoss, how come there’s a lantern here?”

“Well, Sparky us older brothers used ta come up here to explore when we were younger. Pa doesn’t want us ta come here, but I wanted ta show ya something.”

“Why doesn’t Papa want us to come here?”

“It could be dangerous. Sparky, ya have to promise me two things.”

“Yes?”

“One, ya don’t tell Pa I took ya here and two, that ya will never come here by yaself.”

“I promise. Why shouldn’t I tell Papa?”

“Because he promised me a tanning if I ever came up here again and ya know Pa don’t break his promises.”

“Yes Hoss” Sparky wondered why his large brother was doing this when there was a possibility of him getting into trouble with Papa. 

 

Chapter 42

 

Hoss led them over rocks and when they came to a chamber the older boy held the light up and Sparky’s eyes rounded and widened in amazement. He could see things drawn all over the walls and the rock formations were also breathtaking. 

“Oooh!” The little boy exclaimed in amazement. 

The young man knew how the little fellow felt. He had felt like that when his older brother had first showed it to him too. 

“Who drew this?”

“Indians probably.”

“Really? Indians?”

“That’s what Adam told me.”

“Wow Hoss. It’s beautiful! Sparky wandered around the cave, being careful where he walked and gently touched the ancient paintings. 

“Well, Sweet Pea, we had better be going back.”

“Okay.”

As Hoss led the little boy out of the cave, being very careful that he didn’t stumble and fall, he said, “Remember Sparky, brothers don’t tell on brothers. This is a secret just between ya and me okay?”

“Okay. Hoss?”

“Yes baby?”

“Can I ask Adam about the cave?”

“Umm… if ya do, be sure ta ask him about it far away from Pa. He promised Adam a tanning too if he caught him up here again.”

The littlest Cartwright’s eyes widened and rounded. “Really? Papa would tan him at his age?”

“Ya seen him get spanked by Pa before haven’t ya?”

“Yes.”

“Then what makes ya think he won’t tan him?”

“Umm… I guess he would. I’ll be careful. I wouldn’t want you and Adam to be tanned by Papa.”

“Good.”

“Hoss?”

“Yeah Sweet Pea?”

“I can keep secrets real good. I kept my Grandpa’s secret for a very long time no matter what happened.”

“I know you can little brother. Ya sure do better with that then I did at ya age.”

“You couldn’t keep a secret when you were my age?”

“Nope.” Adam wouldn’t tell me things because of that. 

“Can you keep secrets now?”

Hoss smiled. “I’m a whole lot better at it now than I used ta be.”

They untied their mounts and the older boy helped the youngster into the saddle. Once they arrived back at the Ponderosa Sparky seemed to be in a better mood. 

Ben wondered where his sons had gone or what had transpired between them that his little boy seemed a bit happier. He decided he wouldn’t intrude as sometimes brothers needed to have time to themselves. 

<<<<>>>>>

Sparky was restless. The snows had come in heavy. It was still a couple of weeks before Christmas, and the little boy wanted to do something. He didn’t know just what, but something. He walked up the stairs and went into his room and flung himself onto the bed. After a few minutes, he knew he wasn’t tired, so got up and looked at his selection of books. He had read each of them several times and they were boring. He went back downstairs and opening his toy box took out each item and then replaced them all not finding anything to catch his interest. He sighed. He wandered into the kitchen only to be shooed right out again. Hop Sing had begun his Christmas baking and didn’t want a small boy underfoot. 

The child wandered back into the great room. He climbed up onto the credenza and rubbed a clear spot on the frosted over window pane. It was snowing and he couldn’t even make out the barn from where he was. He knew he couldn’t go outside because the snow was coming down too hard and would probably be too deep too. He walked over to his father’s desk and climbed onto the chair and looked at the things on his Papa’s desk. He saw three pictures of three ladies. Each one was of each of his older brothers Mothers. Adam’s mother was tall, willowy, with dark hair and hazel eyes. She was very pretty and his oldest brother looked a whole lot like her. Hoss's mother was a tall woman with pretty blue eyes and wonderful blonde hair. She could have been his mother, Sparky thought. Then he saw the picture of a petite woman with green eyes and golden curly hair and knew this was Little Joe’s mother. He had no picture of his mother. His father, to his knowledge, hadn’t even had a picture of her. All of a sudden, he had an urge to take each of those frames and smash them and rip up the pictures, but stilled his little hands. If he did that his brothers and Papa wouldn’t only be mad, they would be very sad and the little boy didn’t want that. He just put his small head down on Papa’s desk and cried instead. 

When he lifted his head, he saw that his tears had formed a little puddle on the blotter on the desk. He took his handkerchief and wiped the spot, but the evidence still remained. 

The youngster got down from is Papa’s chair and went back into the great room. He took some wood out of the wood box and began to feed it into the fire. Little Joe came in about then and seeing his little brother at the fire came up behind him and grabbing him by the arm gave him a hard swat.

”Ow!” Nicky turned with tears in his eyes, surprised to see his older brother behind him. “What did you do that for?”

“Sparky, you know you’re not supposed to play with the fire!”

“I wasn’t! I was putting wood on it!”

“You know that you’re not supposed to do that without one of us supervising you”!”

The child rubbed the spot on his bottom where his brother had swatted him. “You swatted me Little Joe, you don’t hardly ever swat me!” The littlest Cartwright wailed and dissolved into a torrent of tears. 

Little Joe pulled the little boy into his arms and soothed him. “Sparky, you scared me. You could have gotten burnt if a spark jumped out of the fire or something. Please Sweet Pea, don’t do that again okay?”

The youngster nodded. The older boy tickled him then making the small boy giggle. “Forgiven?”

“Yes, Little Joe.”

“Good.”

Ben, Hoss and Adam came in then and smiled at Little Joe with Sparky in his arms. The elder Cartwright noticed his son wiping away a stray tear from the child’s face. 

“What’s wrong Little Joe?”

“Nothing Pa. It’s just between Sparky and me.”

“Okay, as long as it isn’t anything serious.”

“No Pa. We have an understanding.”

Little Joe took the littlest Cartwright up to his room with him then so their father wouldn’t ask any more questions. 

Ben sat down at his desk. He saw the tear stain on his blotter and wondered about it. He imagined it was Sparky’s because none of the other boys were inside that morning. He decided to go upstairs and talk to his youngest son.

The man knocked at Little Joe’s door. “I want to talk to Sparky.”

The little boy looked up at his Papa. 

Ben just smiled so the child would know he wasn’t in any trouble and picked up the little mite cuddling him in his arms. He brought the youngster to his room and closed the door.

As he sat on the bed, he sat his son next to him and asked, “Sparky, why were you crying at my desk this morning?”

The little boy hung his head. 

“Sweet Pea, you’re not in any trouble. I just want to know why you’re so sad.”

Sparky looked up then. “Papa, my brothers all have pictures of their mama’s. I don’t have one. Daddy didn’t have any either.” A big tear slid down the child’s cheek. 

Ben took his thumb and wiped it away. “I know Sweet Pea. I’m sorry that there aren’t any pictures of either of your parents.”  
The man scooped the child into his arms and hugged him tight. Sparky cuddled into his Papa and they stayed that way for a very long time. 

<<<<>>>>

Just before Christmas there was a thaw and Sparky and Little Joe were able to attend school again in Virginia City. 

“Welcome back Nicky, Little Joe”

“Thank you, Miss Jones.”

The boys took their seats and school went on as usual.

That morning at recess some of the older boys had decided to build a snow cave. They tunneled down into it where a huge drift had formed at the side of the schoolhouse and were inside when it collapsed, burying them. 

Sparky, seeing this happen ran to his teacher. “Miss Jones! Miss Jones! The boys got buried in the Snow! 

The woman ran outside to see there was no sign of the boys, but a huge pile of snow where they had been playing. Vincent Kelly, Little Joe, Mitch Devlin, Seth Pruitt as well as Mike Wilson and Jamie Tyson were all buried. Miss Jones sent Alan Ryerson for the Sheriff and Lem. 

Sparky chewed on his fingers, knowing his big brother was there under all that snow with all of his friends. 

Patrick Kelly also stood there crying because his own brother was under the snow. 

Roy, Lem, John and Sam all came running equipped with shovels and began to attack the snow. They quickly discovered that when they began to attempt to remove the snow more snow caved in on them. 

Adam coming to pick up Sparky from school came upon this scene and was shocked. He strode up and Roy told him what the problem was. The young man studied the situation. He ended up sending Lem back for some boards to shore up the remaining snow. He set to work to try to get the children out. They couldn’t stay under there too much longer without getting frostbite or suffocating because of lack of air. The oldest Cartwright boy worried, but pushed it aside and concentrated on trying to get these children out of this as quickly as possible. 

 

Chapter 43

 

Adam’s attempts also seem futile. When one of the men attempted to tunnel through the fragile snow it collapsed again. Roy had sent someone to inform Ben and the other parents about their children’s plight at the school. 

Finally, the young man looking around saw the perfect solution to their problem. The adults were too heavy to deal with the fragile snow. A lighter person, maybe a child… he looked at his little brother and knew what he had to do. 

Adam Walked over to the little boy, taking the child’s fingers out of his mouth. “Sparky, I need for you to do a very important job for me. Will you, do it?”

“Me? I’m too small, what can I do?”

This time, your small size is exactly what is needed here. I’m going to need for you to scoot into a tunnel of snow we’ll begin and continue to pack the snow around you and dig until you find one of the boys. His oldest brother handed him a long thin dowel. Once you find someone, I want you to poke this stick up through the snow so we can know where whoever you’ve found is so we can dig them out. When one of us sees the stick come out through the snow we’ll tug on it and you let go and back out of your tunnel, okay?”

“Yes. I can do that.” 

“Good boy.” Adam gave the little mite a big hug. 

Sparky took the long stick he had been given and crawled into the tunnel entrance the men had created and began to dig with his little mittened hands packing the snow around him. It was dark and he was scared. When he finally touched a boot, he worked at pushing the stick up through the snow. When he felt a tug at the other end he let go, backing out of the tunnel and the men set to work quickly digging out the first child. Doc Martin was there now and it was Vincent Kelly. He was pale and began to cough, breathing fresh air. As soon as they pulled Vincent clear Adam sent Sparky back in. 

The child continued to dig frantically and This time he found a hand and again poked the stick up through the snow until he felt a tug at the other end. He crawled out again and Adam along with the others quickly dug out the next child. This time it was Mike Wilson. He was barely breathing and was very cold. 

Sparky, having been handed the stick again crawled back into the tunnel. He dug into the snow desperately trying to find another foot or hand. He found something solid and taking off his mittens felt hair and a face, but it was too dark to know who it was. He again forced the stick up through the snow waiting for the tug. When he felt it, he backed out of the tunnel again. The men on top began to quickly dig again. This time it was Jamie Tyson he had found. 

As soon as they had dug the boy out the littlest Cartwright crawled through the tunnel again. His little fingers were stiff with the cold and hurting. He dug further into the tunnel. Each boy who had been dug out had brought more snow down inside. Sparky packed the loose snow down and around him while digging to find anything he could to locate another boy. He again came across something that did not feel like snow and taking off his mittens, found a coat and dug out a sleeve. He forced the stick up through the snow again, his little fingers growing even more numb from the cold. It was Seth Pruitt this time and as soon as he was dug out and freed the youngster crawled back in again. He dug around for a bit frantically, not finding anything. He dug to the side and the front and the other side of the tunnel and found a boot. He knew from the size it must be Mitch Devlin, not his brother. The little boy’s tears were coming down and he wiped them away on his sleeve. He quickly pushed the stick again up through the snow and the boy was dug out. 

Adam gave his little brother a quick hug and the child was off into the tunnel once more. He spent a frantic few minutes trying to find his brother. He finally came across something solid and again taking off his mittens, felt curly hair under his freezing little fingers and tried to dig as quickly as he could. He unearthed Little Joes’ face, brushing the snow away as fast as his little hands would allow him to. 

The oldest Cartwright boy was a bit worried. Sparky had been in there a long time now. When he saw the stick break through the snow he quickly tugged on it and the little boy crawled out of the tunnel. The young man and the other men quickly dug out Little Joe’s still form from the snow. The whole drift caved in then and Adam was grateful that his little brothers were both out before that happened. 

Doc Martin had revived each of the other boys and they were in the schoolhouse wrapped in blankets by the stove. 

Little Joe was not breathing and Doc Martin worked on reviving the boy. The youngster was wrapped into a blanket and woke up by the fire. 

Sparky was wet and cold. Adam took a blanket and wrapped it around the little mite and hugged him for all he was worth. 

Once inside everyone cheered when the oldest Cartwright boy walked in with the child bundled in his arms. 

Ben Cartwright along with Hoss also strode in about then and going directly to Little Joe made sure that his son was not the worse for wear. Then he turned to Sparky, the hero of the day and hugged him tight. 

“Papa, I dug in the tunnel and found the boys.”

“I’m very proud of you Nicholas. You saved the lives of your brother, his friends and your schoolmates. Sometimes being small isn’t all bad, now is it?”

The little boy snuggled into his father’s arms. “No Papa.”

<<<<>>>>

Once Little Joe and the other boys recovered from their ordeal Ben had a long talk with his child. “Son, do you understand now why doing something without enough research into it can spell disaster?”

“Yes Sir. Pa, we didn’t think the snow would cave in on us like that.”

“I know you didn’t. You, your little brother, your friends and your classmates could have all died in that cave in son. It was a very dangerous thing to do.”

“I know that now.”

“Good.”

The man then surprised his son by pulling him across his knees and baring his backside and proceeded to administer a very hard spanking. When he was through Little Joe was crying very hard.  
Ben adjusted the boy’s clothes and hugged him to him. “Don’t you ever do anything like that again young man. Next time I catch you doing anything like that I’m going to tan you with the belt do you understand?”

“Yes Pa.” Joe sniffed. 

Ben just hugged his son tightly to him thankful that all had turned out all right. 

“Pa?”

“Hmm…?”

“Sparky sure was brave. You know how scared he is of the dark.”

“Yes, your little brother was very brave.”

“Pa, I hope no one calls him a “baby” anymore.”

The elder Cartwright smiled. “Well, if they do he can just say that it took a baby to save six boys from a cave in. That makes him a pretty big boy.”

“Yes, it does, doesn’t it?”

The man released his young son and Little Joe slid carefully off his father’s lap rubbing his sore backside.

“Pa?”

“Yes son?”

“I love you and I really love my little brother.”

“I know you do baby.” Ben hugged Little Joe again. 

<<<<>>>>

In the next couple of days Sparky was the focus of attention. His friends at the mine learned of his saving the children at school and were happy about what he had done. 

The youngster was doting on all the attention. 

Ben watched that his little boy didn’t overstep his bounds with his new-found fame. 

Sparky delighted in telling his story, but didn’t  
embellish it. 

His father was glad he was taking all this in stride, not getting a big head over it. 

When the town gathered along with Sparky’s friends from the mine Sheriff Roy Coffee awarded Sparky Virginia City’s Outstanding Citizen Award. 

The little boy was so proud. His picture was in the paper and an article about him saving the children. Roy placed the medal which hung on a ribbon around his neck and Sparky refused to take it off. He wore it to school each day and then at home too. He was so proud. 

Ben sat back and watched his little boy happy and no longer worried about attending school and what the children in school were going to think about him or say to him. After Christmas, the man planned to send the littlest Cartwright to school full days, easing him into them as he had planned with Miss Jones a day at a time. 

The Cartwright patriarch was ever grateful that the child was given to him and his family. They had had to fight for him, had had to give him up to get him back, had almost lost him forever, but had had him placed back into their arms each time for safekeeping. 

This boy was destined for important things in his future Ben knew. Chief Winnemucca had been right when he had told him last Thanksgiving that the Great Spirit favored the child. 

He knew there were still challenges and times ahead that may be rough for this child and his family, but knew they could face them together and Come out of them relatively intact.

Sparky came rushing up to his father a sparkle in those large grey eyes, his medal still hanging around his little neck. “Papa?”

“Yes, little one?”

I like school now.”

“I’m glad you do son.”

“Papa?”

“Yes, Sweet Pea?”

“I love you Papa.” Sparky hugged Ben around the neck.

“I love you too baby.” Ben hugged the little mite with all he had and the child returned it tenfold.

The end.


End file.
